Faith and Companions

ON ST. FAITH AND COMPANIONS, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, AND HER FELLOW MARTYRS, AT AGEN IN AQUITAINE, PROBABLY ABOUT THE YEAR 287.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Faith, virgin and martyr, at Agen in Aquitaine. (S.)

The companion martyrs, at Agen in Aquitaine.

BY J. G.

§ I. Account of the Acts of the holy Martyr, and their diversity: the antiquity and credibility of those to be edited vindicated against adversaries.

[1] How true it is that God often chooses the weak things of the world to confound the strong, St. Faith of Agen, besides other martyrs of the female sex, will be a proof from what is to be said below: Various Acts of St. Faith, not approved by all, a virgin most worthy of so illustrious a name on account of her unconquered constancy in the Christian faith, and a most fruitful parent in the faith of her countrymen, whom by her fortitude in torments she made Christians. That she is entirely different from the virgin of the same name who more probably was crowned with martyrdom at Rome with her sisters Hope and Charity and her mother Sophia, as it is evident of itself, so it needs no proof. The deeds of that one, and of her sisters and mother, our Sollerius set out in a critical Commentary at the 1st day of August, and judged that their Acts, as they are commonly circulated, were not worthy to be reprinted in our Work. Accordingly there will perhaps be someone who, having read the by no means favourable judgement of certain critics on the Acts of our Martyr, will judge them also unworthy to have a place in the same Work, inasmuch as in the judgement of these they are anything but original, but on the contrary are infected with popular traditions, with less probable circumstances, indeed even with things contrary to historical truth, and moreover written in a style which by no means breathes the simplicity of the first centuries of the Church. And indeed the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 3, pages 273 and 274, assert emphatically that these faults and other signs of doubtful credibility are found in the Acts of our holy Martyr; although they afterwards also declare that not all credit is to be denied to the same Acts as regards the substance of the martyrdom. Tillemont had gone before them, in volume 4 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, page 543 and page 752, Note 1, and Baillet in the Critical Table at this day, who censured the Acts of St. Faith generally with a similar judgement, though in somewhat milder words. Whether this is fair or unfair, the learned reader will judge from the account of the Acts subjoined and our replies to the several objections.

[2] While the praised writers of the Histoire littéraire supply an account of the Acts which they had at hand, of which some exist printed, others in manuscript, they are reviewed, they rightly observe at page 273 that the Acts, or rather the Martyrdom of SS. Caprasius and Faith (for so they are entitled in Surius), came out in print from very old manuscript codices before Labbe, from whom that earlier edition was probably hidden, published them under the name of the Acts of St. Faith from very many, as he says, handwritten codices, in volume 2 of his Manuscript Library from page 528. Further, the same writers also rightly note that the two editions differ in nothing from each other, if you except a few words changed at the will of the copyists. But these learned men gave too easy credence to Baillet, whom they praise in the margin, when he asserts that the Acts edited by Mombritius also differ in nothing from those already mentioned, except in a few words changed at the judgement of the copyists. For if they had compared Mombritius's work itself, dedicated to Cicco Simonetta, secretary, as they say, of the dukes of Milan, and printed in Italian type before the year 1480, with the Acts of Surius and Labbe, they would have seen at the first glance that Mombritius's Acts are about six times shorter than the others, and are a mere synopsis of them, such as is also found in the Moissac codex and in our codex ✠ Ms. 36, which once belonged to the convent of St. Cecilia at Utrecht; so that Mombritius's composition is to be counted among the printed Acts of our holy Martyr with no greater right than the mere compendia of the Acts which had been published in print before the editions of Surius and Labbe in Peter de Natalibus, book 9, §26, and in Antoninus, part 1 of the History, title 8, chapter 1, §24, which we therefore do not include under the name of Acts while we dispute below about their antiquity and genuineness. But neither do we reckon among these the edition of the Acts of St. Faith made at Louvain in the year 1485 by John of Westphalia, entirely unknown to the said writers; since this rather presents a recent paraphrase of the old Acts than the composition of some old biographer, as is entirely clear from the style itself.

[3] and in what they differ from one another is set out. Besides those published in print, I have at hand various manuscript copies of the Acts, of which one exists in our codex O Ms. 19, written by hand, in the judgement of our Henschenius, 900 or at least 800 years ago; another in our larger parchment codex marked P. Ms. 159, which once belonged to the abbey of Vaucelles of the Cistercian Order. Moreover we have copies of the Acts written in prose, taken from the manuscript codices of Rouge-Cloître, of the monastery of Conques in the Rouergue, and of Sant Cugat del Vallès in Spain, as well as a Passion of St. Faith in verse, perhaps composed by Hildebert of Le Mans; all of which, as the printed Acts do, not only place the contest of SS. Caprasius, Primus and Felician for the faith of Christ at the same time and place in which our Martyr suffered, but also make express mention of the translation of the bodies of all these, performed by St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, and of the church built by the same to the name of St. Faith. We have in addition a Passion of SS. Caprasius and Faith taken from a manuscript codex of St. Maximin of Trier, in which indeed St. Caprasius is said to have been slain for Christ together with St. Faith on the same day and in the same place, but without any mention of SS. Primus and Felician, or of their translation with the others, or of the church erected by Dulcidius. Finally, we have a manuscript transcript of the Acts of our Martyr, taken from the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden marked num. 863, in which indeed the martyrdom of St. Faith is related in almost the same words in which this is done in the others, but concerning the martyrdom of Caprasius and the other things mentioned above, plainly not one word occurs. These differences among the Acts I would wish to be carefully observed, before we begin to dispute here, as Sollerius promised in his Usuard Illustrated, page 582, about the fairness or unfairness of the judgement with which learned critics censure the Acts of St. Faith generally.

[4] If, with the praised writers of the Histoire littéraire, and those whom they follow as guides, Not all the Acts of St. Faith are later than the middle of the 6th century, when they determine the Acts of St. Faith to be much later than her age and less genuine, the discussion were only of those Acts, whether printed or manuscript, which we reviewed in the first place in num. 3, I do not dissent from them in every respect, since it is beyond doubt that these are certainly later than St. Dulcidius, whom they expressly mention, and therefore, whether you place the episcopate of the same Dulcidius with the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 2, column 897, about the year of Christ 405, which seems more probable to me, or a century and a half later with the praised writers of the Histoire littéraire, these Acts can by no means be called contemporary or original, nor even nearly contemporary with our holy Martyr. I confess also that in these Acts, as also in the Passion of SS. Caprasius and Faith reviewed in the second place, some things are related which do not much please me and seem to require a healing hand; of which matter we shall have to treat more fully in our Work, God willing, on the 20th day of October, on which this holy Martyr is commonly celebrated in the Ecclesiastical Fasti. But if the same learned men, as indeed appears from their general assertion, have judged that all the Acts of St. Faith without distinction are to be relegated to the 6th century, and that not a little advanced, and have thus wished the Acts of St. Faith mentioned by us in the third place, and to be edited by us below, to be struck by the same censure, I can by no means subscribe to their judgement. For since in these, as will be plain to one who reads them through, no mention is made of the translation of St. Faith made by St. Dulcidius, none of the church built to her, which things are nevertheless of such a kind that they would have been mentioned by a biographer later than these, as is clear from the Acts of Surius and Labbe and the other manuscripts akin to them, this silence of our Acts brings it about both that they may be judged, not rashly, to have been written before the times of the same Dulcidius, and certainly that the foundation collapses on which the adversaries established the later age of the Acts universally.

[5] Add that if our Acts are attentively compared with those of Surius and the others akin to them, [and those to be edited here are shown to surpass in antiquity those already published.] the more ancient age of ours at once appears plainly enough, inasmuch as the former partly flowed from them, namely at the time, as one may conjecture, when, after the translation by St. Dulcidius of the bodies of SS. Faith, Caprasius and the other martyrs of Agen, it began commonly to be believed that absolutely all those whose bodies were translated at the same time had also, long before, met death for Christ in the hour of a single day, as the Acts of Surius and others write; and for those led by this opinion it was an easy step to intermingle their deeds with our older Acts, in which no mention by name was made of Caprasius and the other martyrs, wherever the place allowed; which however did not succeed so happily for them that the interpolation does not betray itself here and there, and above all after the fifth number of our division, where, when it had been said that the names of the many who had obtained the crown of martyrdom with St. Faith were unknown, there is presently subjoined the martyrdom for the name of Christ of the most renowned Caprasius, and then of Primus and Felician; the former indeed in these words in Labbe: For at that time… chosen by God and to be a martyr, holy Caprasius, etc.; the latter in no less express ones: Two brothers, Primus and Felician by name and by merits, etc., which indeed make no sufficiently fitting connection with what was said before, and indicate interpolation. Finally, although, as the writers of the Histoire littéraire do not deny, the Acts of Surius were written about the times of St. Dulcidius of Agen, and thus enjoy great antiquity, yet the classical martyrologists believed ours, in which no mention was made of Caprasius and the others as having died with St. Faith in the hour of one day, nor of the translation of their bodies, to be not a little superior in antiquity and credibility, inasmuch as, if you except a very few copies, they announced St. Faith on this day without Caprasius and the others; which it is not likely they would have done, against the protest of the Acts of Surius, unless they had perceived that our Acts, in which St. Caprasius and the other martyrs of Agen are passed over by name, were strong in greater antiquity and credibility.

[6] Their style does not tell much against their antiquity, But, you will say, let our Acts be older than the rest, and let those be derived from ours, not ours from those; yet since ours do not differ from the others in style, and this, in the judgement of the writers of the Histoire littéraire, volume 3, page 273, is more subtle and more refined than suits the earlier centuries of the Christian era, no higher age than the middle of the 6th century can be ascribed even to our Acts. There is indeed no doubt that ours yield the palm of native simplicity to the proconsular, as they call them, Acts of the Martyrs; but I see nothing in their style to prevent them from being said to have been written at least about the times of SS. Ambrose and Augustine by some serious man, inasmuch as his manner of speaking does not differ so very much from the style of those writers, which is itself at times no less subtle and refined, as will be evident to one who compares Ambrose's narrative of the martyrdom of St. Agnes in Ruinart's Acta sincera, second edition, page 460, and the various sermons of Augustine related in the same place at page 365, with our Acts. Nay rather, if you institute a comparison between these and the Acts of St. Vincent, martyr of Saragossa, which were already then, under Augustine, customarily read in the churches, I do not know whether you would judge that anything in the style prevents ours from being said to have been written, no otherwise than those, immediately after peace was restored to the Church. Namely, since, as the Acts of the same St. Vincent testify, the governor Dacian had most sharply taken care that the deeds of the Martyrs who suffered under him should not be noted down in written characters, the devotion of the people of Agen towards the most illustrious Martyr of Christ will have brought it about that, at the first opportune time and when the persecutions ceased, her contest for the faith was committed to writing, lest otherwise her memory should perish; and that this in fact happened here also can be asserted the more confidently because, as Pontius testifies in the Life of St. Cyprian, the Christians had long been accustomed to write down many or almost all things even concerning the passions of mere common folk and catechumens, as may be seen with us in volume 4 of September, page 325. In which matter I should not readily think that the Aquitanians yielded to the Africans and Spaniards.

[7] But, as the writers praised above assert, the heavenly visions, nor what is wrongly brought against them from the heavenly visions and prodigies various prodigies, and circumstances of little probability, indeed contrary to the testimony of antiquity, which are recorded in the Acts of St. Faith, entirely forbid an antiquity higher than the middle of the 6th century to be ascribed to the Acts. I hear it, and as far as those visions are concerned, I answer that this censure by no means falls upon our Acts, since in these, as will be plain to one who considers them, not even a little word of mention is made of any heavenly vision; and even if it were made, they would not at once, on this head, have to be brought down to the 6th century advanced to its middle part, as may be seen from the ancient and genuine Acts of SS. Ignatius the martyr, Polycarp, Cyprian and others in Ruinart, who also testifies in his Notes on the Acts of the same St. Cyprian, second edition, page 212: There are few of the older and more genuine Acts of the Martyrs in which visions of this kind are not contained. Concerning the various prodigies, which you would also seek in vain in our Acts, let our opinion be the same, and similar the reply of Ruinart in his Notes on the Acts of the Martyrs of Palestine, page 328: From this and other portents, he says, which Eusebius relates here and there, gather that the Acts of the Martyrs are not to be rejected, either as false or as later, on the ground that sometimes unusual miracles of this kind have been inserted in them by the faithful. Although in the meantime I do not here determine in what esteem are to be held the several prodigies and visions which are related in the Acts of SS. Faith and Caprasius of Surius and others, since that matter, as I have already warned, belongs to the 20th day of October, sacred to St. Caprasius. I come now to those circumstances which, in the judgement of the praised writers, are of little probability and even repugnant to historical truth itself, which would forbid a higher antiquity than the 6th century to be ascribed even to our Acts. And would indeed that the learned men themselves had reviewed one by one whatever so greatly displeases them, since Baillet, whom they set up in the margin as surety for their pronouncement, sets out no more distinctly or clearly than they which things in particular he holds as suspect or false. There remains therefore Tillemont alone, praised by the same in the margin, from whom we may somehow learn them.

[8] And indeed in his judgement, volume 4 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, page 752, Note 1 on the Acts of St. Faith, or arguments are produced from improbable or false assertions, it is of little probability, indeed contrary to historical truth, as he hints, that the people of Agen are related to have denounced the cruelty of the governor Dacian with the name of injustice and impiety, since on the contrary the people, after their manner, stood with the magistrates against the Christians, and were more hostile to the faithful of Christ than the magistrates themselves. I confess that in our Acts too, just as in the others, these words are read: Those who were present, seeing (the most atrocious punishments which were inflicted on the holy Martyr by Dacian's order), cried out with one voice, saying: O impiety! O unjust judgements! Why is an innocent woman, a worshipper of God, shining with the honour of the first rank (St. Faith), consigned without any crime to the most grievous punishments? But that these things are of little probability or discordant with historical truth, I shall by no means grant to Tillemont, although for the confirmation of his assertion he confidently appeals to the Acts of the Martyrs of Lyons, of St. Polycarp, and others which he did not think fit to set out by name. For, as the mob is unstable and not like itself in all cities, it is no more incredible that in one city, having seen the most atrocious punishments which were inflicted on a most noble Virgin, it was moved with compassion for her and indignation against the judge, than that in another, whether at the instigation of the petty priests or deluded by atrocious calumnies spread against the Christians, it raged against the athletes of Christ. For what? because the people of Lyons in the year 177 demanded the Christians for death and insulted them wantonly, because it thought that they, accused by their own heathen slaves of Thyestean banquets and the incestuous nuptials of Oedipus, were in fact bound up in such foulnesses; or because the Jews and heathens of Smyrna in the year 166 for some while rejoiced over St. Polycarp, consigned to death because he had been a destroyer of the Jewish superstition and of idols, will it therefore become certain and beyond doubt that the people of Agen, towards the end of the 3rd century perhaps already in no small part well disposed towards the Christians, could be moved neither by compassion for their most tender fellow citizen, nor by indignation against the tyrant, when they beheld her, for no other cause than that she had given her name to Christ, stretched out with limbs spread apart on a bed of bronze, bound tight with iron chains, rolled over a glowing gridiron, and her sides atrociously burned?

[9] of which one objected by Tillemont, Certainly, if we consult the genuine Acts of the Martyrs in Ruinart and in our Work, the mob did not always and so obstinately stand with the magistrates, and was not, as Tillemont contends, more unjust towards the Christians than they, but rather not rarely, in the very sight of the judges, gave the most open signs of a mind shrinking from their cruelty and pitying the Christians, poured out groans and tears, and even publicly accused the judge himself, as will also be plain below, of unjust severity. I call to witness those very Acts of St. Polycarp and Companions to which Tillemont appealed, in which it is related in express words that that very mob which had previously demanded their death, presently, having seen the atrocity of the torments, could not without tears look upon what it had previously wished to be done. That the people wept, shuddered, and gave signs of no common compassion when they saw the boy Cyril, Paul the martyr of Palestine, the seven virgins companions of St. Theodotus of Ancyra, the infant companion of St. Romanus, Perpetua and Felicity, the virgin Agnes and other martyrs handed over to dire punishments or to death, their Acts in Ruinart most openly testify. Nay, we read that Cassian of Tangier, Genesius of Arles, Valentina, a woman of Gaza, Philemon, companion of St. Apollonius, and other martyrs whom it would be too long to enumerate from their genuine Acts in Ruinart, publicly execrated the sentence and cruelty of the judges against the Christians. How long at last, the said woman cries out from the midst of the crowd against the judge, how long at last will you torture my sister so cruelly? And lest you think this was done by only a few, hear what the Acts of SS. Tarachus and Companions, written by eyewitnesses most worthy of credit, expressly say to our purpose: And when (at Anazarbus in Cilicia, at the time of the Diocletianic persecution) they (the aforesaid martyrs) had been brought in, they were thrown into the middle of the amphitheatre, and there arose a great fear and a murmur of the people, saying: Unjust is the judge who has judged thus. For many also left the spectacle, and went away in contempt, murmuring against Maximus. But Maximus ordered his soldiers to note those who were departing, so that he might afterwards hear them. Thus far the said Acts in Ruinart, page 445. By which example alone it becomes evident that nothing foreign to the appearance of truth, much less openly false, is asserted in our Acts, when certain people of Agen are related to have accused Dacian, raging most atrociously against the tender Virgin, of impious cruelty and injustice, whom also on that account, and especially because they publicly professed Christ the Lord, he consigned to death, as our Acts also relate.

[10] The difficulty which Tillemont raises on the same page 752 generally against the antiquity and genuineness of the Acts of St. Faith, as also other things opposed by him and others are refuted, I do not touch here, because it is not of such great moment, and even if it were, it would tell nothing against our Acts, in which assuredly not even one word occurs concerning the baptism of Caprasius and the name given him by the priest. But, says the same writer on the following page, those Acts relate that Dacian, after he had travelled through the Spains for the sake of persecuting the Christians, was directed by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian to Agen in Aquitaine for the same purpose; from which you might deservedly judge that they were composed not by a writer of the 4th century or a little later, but by those who, since they saw Aquitaine in the 5th and 6th centuries added to the dominion of the Goths reigning in Spain, believed that in like manner in the time of the Romans, or of Diocletian, it had obeyed the governors of Spain, at which time, however, these had no jurisdiction over the Aquitanians; so that the martyrdom of St. Faith is ascribed to Dacian, governor of the Spains, neither on a sufficiently solid foundation nor by a sufficiently ancient writer. Thus, roughly, Tillemont; and if we take his reasoning for a while as certain on every side, even from this it will follow, against the writers of the Histoire littéraire, that our Acts were written not after the middle of the 6th century, as they themselves contend in the places cited, but much before, by some Aquitanian, namely either a little after the year 416, in which, as Isidore of Seville testifies, Second Aquitaine, and thus Agen, passed to Wallia, prince of the Goths in Spain, or at any rate before the year 507, in which, as Ado and others testify, Clovis I, king of the Franks, snatched Aquitaine from the Goths and joined it to his own empire. But let us now come to the matter itself. Nowhere in our Acts, nor indeed in those of Surius and others, is it read that Dacian, when he arrived at Agen, Spain

before he watered Aquitaine with the blood of the Christians, and presided over both regions at the same time with the title of governor; so that accordingly Tillemont's conjecture, which rests on this foundation, collapses on every side. Nay, he himself did not believe it so well established that he did not presently confess it might have happened that Dacian governed Aquitaine about the year 290, and then, having laid down this prefecture, was governor of Spain, namely in the years 303 and 304.

[11] Finally, even if our Acts had made Dacian, whom they present raging with the right of the sword against the Christians in Aquitaine, and other difficulties, governor of Spain at the same time, what, I ask, would they assert in this so foreign to the manners of Maximian Herculius, then living in the West, that it would follow even on this account that they were not written before the advanced 6th century? Certainly, even if about the year 287 Dacian had been the ordinary governor of Spain, he could, as Antoine Dadin de Hauteserre rightly notes in book 4 of the Rerum Aquitanicarum, chapter 17, have been designated extraordinarily by Herculius to the province of Aquitaine for a while, in order to pursue the Christians there, and compel them by whatever way to obey the decrees previously issued against them, the administration of the other affairs of his province being meanwhile left to its ordinary governor (if indeed he had not been summoned elsewhere by one or other of the emperors, or had not died, which would not be so strange). Nor does such a governing of Aquitaine have any reason why it should seem foreign to the truth. For besides the fact that it is certain from Lactantius, chapter 7 of On the Deaths of the Persecutors, that under Diocletian the ordinary administration of the provinces was overturned, there is no reason why that change in the Gauls cannot be ascribed to Maximian Herculius, who was, as the emperor Julian testifies in the book on the Caesars, eager for innovations and full of perfidy, and, as Lactantius testifies, readier than Diocletian himself for doing evil, and why it cannot be asserted that the same emperor, provided that he filled everything in the Gauls with terror according to his wishes, cared nothing if on that account he overturned for a while the ordinary administration of the provinces, or set several over one province at his own will, contrary to ancient custom, namely those whose civil acts he judged would be very rare, but their condemnations and proscriptions frequent, of which character he could well know Dacian to be a man, as the event also constantly showed. However these things may be, I do not see why credence cannot be given to the Acts of St. Faith, written, even by Tillemont's own admission, at the time when the Goths were dominating Aquitaine, and thus certainly before the year 507, when they present Dacian pursuing the Christians at Agen, or why, because they assert this, they should be said to have been composed after the middle of the 6th century.

[12] which can be opposed, are met. Nor indeed do the sudden conversion of certain people of Agen to the faith of Christ asserted in them, the rewards promised to the sacrilegious who should sacrifice to the gods of the Romans, and the atrocious punishments inflicted on those refusing to do so, tell much against the antiquity and genuineness which we ascribe to our Acts; all which things Tillemont, in volume 2 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, page 698, and volume 4, page 732, holds as indications of doubtful credibility in the Acts of the holy Martyrs, and, as it seems, wished to be included among the facts of little probability to him which he says are found in the Acts of St. Faith. For it is no less credible that on the occasion of the martyrdom of St. Faith some people of Agen were converted to the faith of Christ, than we rightly and deservedly believe that the three soldiers, witnesses of the martyrdom of St. Victor, likewise the keepers of the prison in which St. Vincent was detained, those equally who had previously assailed him, and finally the judge and people on the occasion of the martyrdom of St. Apollonius the deacon, and many others, having seen the constancy of the Martyrs or some heavenly prodigy, even suddenly gave their names to Christ, as their genuine Acts in Ruinart make beyond doubt. As regards the rewards promised by Dacian to those who should send a message of renunciation to Christ and sacrifice to the gods, it is known from their Acts in the already often praised Ruinart that Publius also, prefect of the City, promised infinite gifts to St. Januarius, son of St. Felicity, that the governor Lysias by order of the emperors promised honours and gifts to St. Claudius and his companions, and finally that other governors assigned very ample goods, honours and dignities to other Christians who should sacrifice to the gods; so that accordingly nothing is taken from the credibility and antiquity of our Acts because it is said in them that Dacian would have rewarded the sacrilegious with benefits. Finally, however atrocious the torments are which are related in the same to have been inflicted on our Martyr, no one will say that they surpass human belief or are improbable, who has read that far more atrocious ones were inflicted on other martyrs, in Lactantius, Eusebius, Augustine and other holy Fathers; to which it is strange, since examples of these were so obvious, that those critics did not sufficiently turn their attention who on this head gnaw at or repudiate the ancient Acts of the martyrs.

§ II. The Saint's announcement in the classical Martyrologies: her native place, Agen. Whether she had SS. Sabina and Alverta as sisters; whether SS. Caprasius, Primus and Felician were companions of her martyrdom on the same day; and at what time and on what day she suffered, is inquired into.

The Saint not rightly expressed in the Echternach Hieronymian manuscript What has been disputed by us thus far I judge sufficient for us to establish that the Acts of St. Faith which we are about to edit are not a little older and more genuine than the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 3, page 273, define universally, and accordingly to give them that credit which is otherwise usually accorded to Acts of the Martyrs written by a serious man at a time when either witnesses of the martyrdom could still have survived among the living, or at least a constant memory of it and a public report could still have flourished untouched. I proceed therefore now to other things concerning our Martyr which come into dispute. And first, as regards her announcement in the sacred Fasti, if we stand on the reading of the very ancient Echternach codex, we shall at once pronounce that Faith, martyr of Agen, is absent from the Hieronymian martyrologies, and that in her place a certain Felix who suffered at Genoa must be substituted. But if we consult the other Hieronymian copies, and the classical martyrologists, for whom both these and our Acts seem to have lighted the way, we shall not without reason determine assertively, with Sollerius in the Observations on Usuard and Domenico Giorgi in the Annotations on Ado, that our Faith is venerated on this day in the Hieronymian martyrologies, and that Laurence, the scribe of the Echternach codex, seems wrongly to have changed Faith into Felix, and Agen into Genoa, as Fiorentini also suspects in his Notes at this day, page 900. And indeed the very affinity of the names, or perhaps the confused writing of the codex which lighted the way for Laurence, may easily have given occasion to this slip, as in fact happened to the scribe of the Ottobonian Martyrology in the said Giorgi, who, keeping the words in Gaul, nevertheless wrote τὸ Genoa for Agen. Certainly, since nothing is established from elsewhere concerning that Felix, martyr of Genoa, nor does his name anywhere appear on this day in the martyrologists who each transferred the Hieronymian announcements into their own work, it can be asserted not rashly that he was not found in their Hieronymian codices, but in his place Faith, martyr of Agen; or, if they read the name of Felix in them, that they held it for an error, and therefore, omitting Felix today, announced St. Faith, as may be seen from the Hieronymian martyrologies in Fiorentini, d'Achery, volume 2 of the Spicilegium, edition of the year 1723, page 19, and Sollerius, volume 7 of June, and others.

[14] But, you will say, the Lucca Hieronymian copy, and elsewhere designated less accurately, edited by Fiorentini, seems to designate not a virgin martyr but a man of the same name as our Saint, in these its words: In Gaul, in the city of Agen, the birthday of Saint Fidis, martyr, and Rabanus also agrees, in Canisius, writing thus: In the Gauls, in the city of Agen, the birthday of Saint Fides, martyr. Add the announcements of the Martyrologies of St. Germain of Auxerre, of Gellone and of Labbe, conceived in these words: At Agen, of Fidis, martyr; and a similar one which is read in the supplements to Bede of Arras, Tournai and the Barberini, prefixed to volume 2 of March, where one can find neither the name of virgin nor any sign of the female sex; so that accordingly, since in the sacred Fasti the title due to them is commonly ascribed to virgins as well as the sign of their sex to matrons, and here neither is done, Faith the virgin cannot be said to be designated in these Fasti. But in truth, since our Acts, very ancient as we have seen, relate that Faith, a virgin, suffered on this day at Agen, and both these and the other historical monuments keep the deepest silence about a male martyr of the same name, there is scarcely any doubt that all the martyrologists inscribed today in their Fasti not a man named Faith, but a girl, a martyr very well known to them, and that it happened solely through the carelessness of the copyists that in the former by the change of one letter, and in the latter by the omission of one word, some male martyr seems to be announced. The most express words of the Acts which I have already praised, which you have below at num. 1 and elsewhere, I pass over here, content to produce the plain testimonies of the martyrologists, by which you may most fully correct those earlier less accurate announcements of St. Faith.

[15] as Virgin and Martyr in the best classical martyrologies, The Martyrology which exists in volume 2 of d'Achery's Spicilegium, edition of the year 1723, distinguished by the name of St. Jerome, so plainly expresses not a man but a virgin, and that our Martyr, that no doubt remains on this matter. Hear its words: On the day before the Nones of October… In the city of Agen, the birthday of Saint Fidis, virgin and martyr. The Reichenau one, edited by Sollerius in volume 7 of June, likewise expresses the title of virgin in this manner: In Gaul, in the city of Agen, of Fidis, virgin. Wandelbert agrees, singing of our Martyr in this single verse: The virgin Faith triumphs by a happy death on the day before this; and Ado of Vienne in these words: In the Gauls, in the city of Agen, the birthday of Saint Fidis, virgin and martyr, by whose example blessed Caprasius was encouraged to the contest of martyrdom. The testimonies of Usuard, Notker, the Martyrology of the church of Auxerre in Martène, volume 6 of the Collectio amplissima, column 724, the very ancient manuscript Martyrology of the Romano-Gallic church in our possession, and many others, since they agree with those already produced either in sense or in the very words, I spare to recite here, since from the former it is more than sufficiently plain that Faith, martyr of Agen, whom the Hieronymian martyrologies announced from our Acts, as it appears, and the more excellent martyrologists from both, was not of the male sex, as some, and those less accurate, Fasti seem to insinuate, but of the female sex, and that she is that same virgin whose elogium, taken almost word for word from Ado, the present Roman presents thus on this day: At Agen in Gaul, the birthday of Saint Fides, virgin and martyr, by whose example blessed Caprasius, encouraged to martyrdom, happily consummated his contest.

[16] but is shown to be announced in some under a different inflection of the name. There is also among the martyrologists, as is plain even from this and the other elogia transcribed above, some disagreement about the inflection of our Martyr's name, which I shall relate in the words of Fiorentini in his Notes at this day. Not Fidis, he says on page 900, but Fides is the name of the holy Virgin and Martyr

of Agen that the Roman Martyrology gives, with Bede, Usuard and Ado, as Baronius notes there: but I find the name Fidis written everywhere, not Fidei, as is read in others by an error of copyist or printer: nor does Notker write it differently; and he adds that among all the ancients, except Rabanus, the word Fidis is found. Thus Fiorentini, and rightly indeed, if you except what he asserts about Baronius's annotation. For although the most learned Cardinal uses the name Fidei, as more conformable to the rules of Grammar, and in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology published in his time praises Bede, Usuard, Ado and others, nevertheless Baronius nowhere affirms, contrary to what Fiorentini seems to assert, that that very name Fidei is read in those martyrologists. And indeed, as Sollerius notes in his Usuard Illustrated, page 582, the Hieronymian martyrologies, Ado, Usuard and Notker most expressly mention the virgin as Fidis, not Fidei, under the same inflection, and Rabanus alone reads Fidei. Of Bede, praised by Baronius before others, Sollerius was silent, because the genuine Bede does not mention St. Faith, although the supplements to Bede praised above likewise use the name Fidis on this day; which inflection of the name we too, after the example of the old martyrologists, have already used before and shall use further.

[17] I come now to that controversy which exists between the Aquitanians and very many Spaniards about the native place of our Martyr. Not in Spain, but at Agen was she born, And the former indeed, relying on her ancient Acts, confidently pronounce that St. Faith not only suffered at Agen but was also born there; while the latter, with whom you will deservedly wonder that the brothers Sainte-Marthe, in the Bishops of Agen, partly agree, not at all dissenting about the place of martyrdom, nevertheless no less confidently make her Spanish by home, family and birth, doubting only whether she was given to the world in the city of Mérida or in that of Ciudad Rodrigo. If you believe Tamayo, the keenest defender of the Spanish side, you would say this opinion is confirmed by an equal consensus of ancients and moderns. But if you weigh the antiquity and credibility of the witnesses whom he praises, you will find none of them to whom credence can safely be given in this matter. For that the testimonies of Flavius Dexter and of the most ancient Epigrammatist, as he calls him, are pure and simple fictions, patched together by some more recent and by no means dexterous writer, is as well ascertained among the learned as anything can be. And that Pérez, Vaseo and the others whom he adduces as witnesses can have no authority on a matter so ancient, especially when the old Acts protest against it, no learned man fails to see. Wherefore Flórez, more prudent than Tamayo and the others whom he follows here, in volume 13 of the España Sagrada, page 306, judged that the virgin Faith, whom many writers of the Spanish nation had dragged with all their force, against her will, into Spain, must be restored to the people of Agen by so certain a right, and from the very witness of the old Breviaries of Toledo and Seville, that to have contended further about it would, in his own judgement, be to have wasted time in vain.

[18] There is also another point in which you may deservedly reprehend Tamayo, namely when in his Notes on the Spanish Martyrology he wrongly marks Baronius with the censor's rod, she did not have Sabina of Mérida as a sister, because the latter in the present Roman did not give St. Faith Sabina, a virgin of Mérida, as companion of her martyrdom. For what Tamayo asserts from a farrago of fables now thoroughly seen through, that it is established beyond doubt that they (Faith and Sabina of Mérida) suffered together on this day… for Christ in Gaul, that is so far removed from all doubt, being so uncertain, that you may deservedly question whether that Sabina of Mérida ever existed in the nature of things at all, much less that she undoubtedly suffered at Agen with St. Faith. Certainly neither our Acts, nor those of Surius and the others akin to them, nor the martyrologists whether classical or more recent, if you except the followers of pseudo-Dexter, nor any old and genuine monuments that I know of, have mentioned this Sabina; so that accordingly Baronius with the fullest right passed her over on this day also. But, you will say, Tamayo, at the 28th day of October, asserts on the authority of Antonio Domenec, who drew the Acts of this translation from old manuscripts, that the sacred body of Sabina, a citizen of Mérida in Spain and a martyr of Agen in Gaul, was translated in the 11th century from Agen to the basilica of St. Peter of Ager in Catalonia; so that she truly existed in the nature of things, and met death for Christ together with St. Faith at Agen, whence her sacred remains were translated into Catalonia. So indeed, I confess, Tamayo again thinks at the aforesaid day, page 666. But see, on how little foundation again. For if you read through Domenec himself, whose Spanish words Tamayo made Latin, from head to foot, you will wonder that not even one word is found there from which you could say that the virgin and martyr Sabina, whose translation he relates, was a citizen of Mérida, or suffered at Agen, or was translated thence into Spain. From what store Tamayo drew these things and inserted them in Domenec's words, I cannot declare, nor whether he did it with the design of adding some weight to what he had related at the 6th day of October, and so strengthening his own opinion.

[19] but neither with sufficient certainty St. Alverta, But enough of these things now. I turn myself now to other heads of discussion which concern St. Faith. And first let us examine whether it is in any way certain that she had a full sister named Alverta, who also, as is insinuated, was slain for Christ in the same persecution. So first of all the brothers Sainte-Marthe seem to think, when in their Gallia Christiana, volume 2, page 70, treating of St. Phoebadius, bishop of Agen, they determine in express words that St. Alverta was the full sister of St. Faith, and likewise a martyr of Agen. Henschenius follows them, though somewhat timidly, in volume III of April, page 366, writing thus: The body of St. Phoebadius was for a long time among the Petrocorii with the relics of St. Alverta, virgin and martyr of Agen, who was the full sister of St. Faith and can be referred with her to the 6th of October, unless she is St. Alvera, virgin, related in the manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of St. Savin in the territory of Tarbes, in du Saussay at the 25th of August. The enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 2, column 896, agrees, defining the virgin Alverta without any sign of hesitation as both the full sister of St. Faith and likewise a martyr of Agen. But since those writers praise no witness from the ancients for their assertion, their authority, although it is otherwise great, cannot here bring it about that we ascribe with sufficient certainty to our Martyr a full sister who was likewise a martyr of Agen; and that all the more because neither in our Acts, nor even in those of Surius and the others akin to them, is any word made of a sister of St. Faith who was likewise a martyr. Add that neither in the Acts of the translation to be edited below is there any mention of the body of St. Alverta, much less as the full sister of St. Faith, and that it is also not credible that St. Dulcidius, as is related in them, would have enclosed the body of the same St. Faith in a mausoleum apart from the remains of the other martyrs, if among these was her full sister, who assuredly was not to be separated in the tomb from her to whom she had been so closely bound both by the bond of blood and by fellowship in martyrdom. However, the words of Henschenius praised just now, and those which our predecessors put forward at the 25th day of August among the Passed Over, page 6, concerning St. Alvera and Alverta, compel me to halt here for a while, in order to redeem the promise given by them.

[20] At the cited page 6 our elders had expressed their wish that fuller information on this subject than they themselves had then obtained concerning whom some things are discussed. should be supplied from somewhere before the 6th day of October, to which they referred that matter; but I find, with sorrow, that their wishes were in vain. Here therefore again, as before, we must indulge in conjectures, since after diligent investigation of the matter it is no more certainly established to me now than to them whether, and how many, virgins are to be distinguished who had the name Alvera or one akin to it. Nevertheless I wish to put forward the things which have seemed to me nearer the truth in this matter, on which I also eagerly desire that some learned man may bring light, and separate the doubtful from the undoubted. That the virgin Alvera, whose passing is related in the Martyrology praised in the previous number, at the 25th day of August, very meagrely and without any note of epoch or place, is the same as St. Alvenera or Alvera, virgin, whom Chastelain asserts is venerated among the Petrocorii on the 9th day of March, the similarity of the name suggests, and no urgent reason to the contrary. And that the virgin Alvenera or Alvera, whose head is honoured in the province of Périgord in a church of her name near the place commonly called Limeuil, as Chastelain writes at the cited 9th day of March, is not different from her of whom Jean du Puy treats at the second page 62 of the work to which he gave the French title The State of the Church of Périgord, his very words, in which he likewise relates that her head is kept with honour in a church in Périgord sacred to St. Alvera or Alvenera, sufficiently plainly indicate. Since, therefore, she was crowned with martyrdom, as the same author asserts is established from her sacred head, split by the blow of a scimitar to the space of four fingers, I am mistaken unless she is also that very one whom the Sainte-Marthes and others indicated under the name of Alverta, virgin and martyr. And I would think so because in transcribing these proper names either the omission or the addition of one letter is easy, and because Alvera as well as Alverta is called virgin and martyr, and finally because the Acts of St. Alverta as well as, on the testimony of the same Jean du Puy, those of St. Alvera have perished. But in what place, or at what time, St. Alvera or Alverta suffered for Christ, whether in the district of Agen or one neighbouring it and under the same governor Dacian, on account of which she was held a Martyr of Agen, or on the contrary at a time or place entirely different, who could set out, even by conjecturing, when the Acts of her martyrdom are lost? However these things may be, there is certainly no reason why we should determine with certainty that that Alverta or Alvera was the full sister of St. Faith and companion of her martyrdom.

[21] It now remains to inquire concerning the fellow soldiers of St. Faith, Whether St. Caprasius suffered on the same day with St. Faith, whether, besides those anonymous ones, five hundred in number as du Saussay will have it, who, having seen her constancy in the faith, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and with her obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom, there are also to be joined to her SS. Caprasius, and Primus and Felician, brothers, as having suffered for Christ in the hour of one day and in the same place. The Acts of Surius and others akin to them affirm it, of whose antiquity we treat here at num. 5 and 26. Moreover, the Martyrology or Calendar of Stavelot, written about 700 years ago, in Martène, volume VI of the Amplissima

Collectio, column 676, and the Vatican Calendar, written at the beginning of the 11th century, in Domenico Giorgi, page 701, expressly commemorate Caprasius as having suffered with St. Faith on the 6th day of October; while the Tournai supplement to Bede, prefixed to volume 2 of March, besides Caprasius, ascribes Primus and Felician to St. Faith as companions; to which add the Breviary of Sarlat and other Breviaries of Gaul and du Saussay's Martyrology, where the same things are assertively related. But as regards St. Caprasius, the testimonies adduced are not of such weight to me that I hold it beyond doubt that on the same day on which he was encouraged to martyrdom by the example of Faith he also consummated his contest by a cruel death. In my judgement at least, the utter silence of our Acts about him seems to stand in the way, and especially that the same Acts relate that the names of those who obtained martyrdom with St. Faith on the same day are unknown. Add that the more excellent Martyrologies, for instance the Hieronymian, those of Ado, Usuard, Wandelbert, the present Roman and many others, which announce Caprasius on the 20th day of October, insinuate that he consummated with equal triumph on this latter day his contest, to which he had earlier been encouraged on the 6th day of October by the example of St. Faith. Finally, to stand on the very Acts of Surius and those akin to them, if at the critical moment of the same 6th day, that is, as I judge it must be explained, if towards evening St. Caprasius from his rock, where he was lying hidden, saw from afar the noble contest of our Virgin for Christ, and was encouraged by it to the struggle, you will not easily find so much time on that day that he could, with any likelihood, pour out repeated prayers, be refreshed by heavenly visions, draw a spring from the rock, betake himself into the city, present himself to the judge, be duly interrogated by him, be enticed by him to idolatry with blandishments, be terrified by threats, be torn by the torturers, preach the name of Christ to the people, be led by the judge's sentence to the shrines, be again urged to sacrifice, and, refusing to offer, be beheaded. But concerning the credibility of these things which the Acts of Surius and others relate, and concerning the day of his martyrdom, it will have to be treated more at large at the 20th day of October, on which, as we have warned before, Caprasius is venerated; where it will also be examined whether, as M. Labénazie, canon of St. Caprasius of Agen, contends in his Vindiciae, St. Caprasius was in fact bishop of Agen, contrary to what many think.

[22] and whether SS. Primus and Felician were also then put to martyrdom, And these things that have been said about Caprasius press much more closely against our determining that Primus and Felician were crowned with martyrdom on the same day together with St. Faith at Agen. For besides the fact that concerning these and concerning Caprasius there is an equal silence in our Acts, there are no Martyrologies of any excellence, if you except the single Tournai supplement to Bede, which, even where they describe with a fuller elogium the contest of St. Faith and of St. Caprasius especially, relate that those martyrs suffered together on this day at Agen. Add that if it is difficult to conceive how Caprasius, as we said just now, could have been put to martyrdom on the same day with St. Faith, it is much more difficult to believe that Primus and Felician were joined to her also on the same day, who did not publicly profess the name of Christ and were not seized by the soldiers before Caprasius, after a judicial interrogation and after spurning both the threats and the blandishments of the judge, had been tortured with grievous torments. But here another question arises, namely whether the brothers Primus and Felician ever suffered at Agen, as the Acts of Surius and other documents relate. Our Papebroch, in volume 2 of June, page 150, does not much favour those who affirm it, conjecturing that occasion was seized hence for saying that they suffered with Caprasius at Agen, because some relics of SS. Primus and Felician, Roman martyrs, were preserved in the church of the same Caprasius; it being by no means, he says, a new instance that martyrs are said through error to have suffered where their relics exist; which he also proves from Gregory of Tours, book 1 of the Miracles, chapter 47, where SS. Nazarius and Celsus are related to have suffered and been buried at Embrun, a city of the Gauls; whereas they were certainly put to the sword at Milan, and only their relics are preserved at Embrun.

[23] But, to set forth candidly also the things which tell against Papebroch's opinion, as also whether the last two are truly martyrs of Agen is inquired into. since the bodies of SS. Primus and Felician, Roman martyrs, which were buried in the Arenarium on the Via Nomentana, seem first to have been revealed about the year 648, as Anastasius the Librarian, whose words you may read at the cited page 150, sufficiently plainly indicates in the Life of the Pontiff Theodore; and since on the other hand in the Acts of Surius and others, written in the judgement of the writers of the Histoire littéraire after the middle of the 6th century, nay, as we have shown at num. XI and elsewhere, much before, express mention is made of Primus and Felician as having once suffered and been buried at Agen, it is not so clear that these are not different from Primus and Felician, Roman martyrs, whose Acts Papebroch and Henschenius illustrated at the 9th day of June. It also favours the establishing of the diversity of these martyrs that, as is related in the cited place, the body of St. Primus and the relics of St. Felician, who suffered at Rome, still existed there in the year of Christ 846, at which time the Acts of SS. Faith and Caprasius edited by Surius and Labbe, which mention the martyrdom and burial of Primus and Felician of Agen, had most certainly been written, as is clearly plain from the copies of the Acts which, as Ruinart testifies in the Preface, page 67, are contained in codices written 900 years ago. However, since this matter must be discussed again at the 20th day of October in the Life of St. Caprasius, I will define nothing here, in case perhaps before that day, as I vehemently desire, documents may be supplied by which, both concerning the birthday of St. Caprasius and concerning Primus and Felician, martyrs of Agen as some will have it, the truth may at last manifest itself on every side, and it may be plain whether, and which, companions besides the anonymous people of Agen ought to be joined to the same Martyr, those who, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, their heads being cut off, came in the hour of one day with the triumph of martyrdom to the crown of glory with St. Faith.

[24] It remains that we dispatch in a few words the matters which fall into controversy concerning the epoch of the martyrdom of St. Faith. The epoch of the martyrdom of St. Faith Of all who have treated this subject, the author of our manuscript Florarium is the only one who placed her martyrdom after the death of Diocletian, by an error assuredly most manifest, and contradicted both by all the Acts and by the other writers. But although there is entire agreement among these that the martyrdom of St. Faith is to be tied to the times of Diocletian and Maximian, they do not agree with one another whether that same martyrdom is to be placed during the most atrocious persecution stirred up against the Christians in the year 303 at the instigation of Galerius Maximian, or rather about the beginnings of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Herculius, under whom particular persecutions were stirred up in certain provinces. Baronius follows the former opinion in the Ecclesiastical Annals at the year of Christ 303, and there agree with him, besides many others, Antoine Dadin de Hauteserre, book 4 of the Rerum Aquitanicarum, chapter 17, page 297, Jean Baiole in his Sacred History of Aquitaine, book 2, chapter 4, page 70, and Denis de Sainte-Marthe, volume 2 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 893. But since at that time Constantius Chlorus ruled in the Gauls, who, as Lactantius testifies in chapter 15 of On the Deaths of the Persecutors, lest he should seem to dissent from the precepts of his seniors, allowed the conventicles, that is, the walls, which could be restored, to be pulled down, but kept the true temple of God, which is in men, unharmed; hence it is much more probable that St. Faith was crowned with martyrdom not about the year 303 or 304, but about the end of the third century in some particular persecution stirred up by Maximian Herculius, namely at the time when, the leaders of the Bagaudae, Aelianus and Amandus, who had seized the empire in the Gauls, having been crushed almost in one onset in the year 286, Maximian Herculius stayed for the most part in the Gauls up to the year 292, and often exercised his rage against the Christians, as Tillemont in volume 4 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, Fleury in volume 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, book 8, Longueval in volume 1 of the Ecclesiastical History of the Gallican Church, page 143, and others commonly judge; on which matter see more also with us in volume 2 of October, pages 354 and 355, and often elsewhere; wherefore I too, at the beginning of this Commentary, thought the martyrdom of St. Faith was probably to be placed about the year 287.

[25] and the day of her death is investigated. Further, our Acts insinuate that the martyrdom of her and of her anonymous Companions in fact took place on the same day on which the Passion of St. Faith is venerated, when, after they had related that she and her Companions, their heads cut off, came together in the hour of one day with the triumph of martyrdom to the crown of glory, they presently express that day thus: Over whose passion on the second day before the Nones of October Our Lord Jesus Christ, who glories in His Saints, willed us to rejoice and to be made illustrious. Not only the more recent writers but also the old martyrologists whom we call Classical agree; nor is Wandelbert out of tune, although he writes on this day that St. Faith triumphed by a happy death on the day before this; inasmuch as by the word pridie he designates, after his manner, no other day than that which is called the day before the Nones of October, or the sixth, as becomes manifest from his similar manner of speaking in the months of March, April, May, June and others. The Bull also of Pope Paschal II given to Bego, abbot of Conques, which you have below from volume 1 of Edmond Martène's Anecdota, column 337, tells nothing against us: since these words of the Pontiff, before the second day before the Nones of October, are to be referred to the vigil and fast customarily kept at Conques on the day before the feast of St. Faith, and by no means to the very day of St. Faith's death, which is to be fixed from the ancient writings, in the judgement of the same Pontiff also, on the day before the Nones.

§ III. The ancient age of the Anonymous author who described St. Faith's burial, the finding of her body, and the erection of a church in her honour, is shown, and these things are recited from him: the site of that church and its distinction from another.

From the second anonymous author, who seems contemporary with St. Dulcidius. Having discussed the questions which were apt to be raised concerning the memory of St. Faith in the Ecclesiastical Fasti, her native soil, and the various circumstances of her martyrdom, I now proceed to the burial of her body and its first translation; since concerning these we can learn nothing from those Acts to which we gave the palm of antiquity, the Acts of SS. Faith and Caprasius of Labbe, and the others akin to them, must here be called in aid, which, as we warned before, besides the burial of our Martyr, expressly commemorate the translation of the same made by St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, and the erection of a church. But it will be helpful first to have observed some things about their authority and credibility in this matter. Those Acts, although later than ours, which are to be edited below from the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden, were nevertheless written about the times of St. Dulcidius, as the very words of their author, to be weighed further below, insinuate, and very ancient manuscript codices suggest, nor do Tillemont

and the authors of the Histoire littéraire de la France, already often praised, deny it. From which it follows that their writer, inasmuch as he was contemporary with St. Dulcidius, and perhaps an eyewitness of the body of St. Faith translated by that prelate and of the church erected, deserves great credence in these matters. And although the authority of this writer when he narrates the burial of the holy Martyr, to whom he did not live even near in time, is not of equal weight, it is nevertheless to be held of such value that we should not deny credence to his statements. For although that author seems less accurate in recounting some circumstances of the martyrdom of St. Caprasius of lesser moment, and whose memory is therefore easily in some part corrupted by lapse of time, yet in the things which he relates about the burial of the bodies of SS. Faith and Caprasius he may not undeservedly be judged to have been more accurate, since he could both see with his own eyes the place where their bodies had lain, and easily understand the rest pertaining to this from those who had most diligently preserved as a sacred thing the cloths dyed with the blood of these Martyrs, handed down to them by their ancestors, together, as is credible, with the whole sequence of the burial.

[27] It remains, however, that before we recite from this writer the narrative of the burial of St. Faith and of the first translation, the epoch of whose episcopate we try to resolve a not slight controversy about the epoch of the same translation and of the other things which depend on it. That the bodies of our holy Martyr and of her companions were translated by St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, the praised writer of the Acts affirms in set words, and the learned, as we warned before, do not deny that he flourished about the times of this Prelate; but since neither he nor other contemporary authors added to the episcopate of St. Dulcidius any chronological note from which you might define undoubtedly and clearly even the very century in which he sat, there is not one opinion among the learned about the time to which both the translation of the body of St. Faith and the other things which pertain here are to be tied. And Tillemont indeed, in volume 4 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, page 543, attaches the episcopate of Dulcidius, and so also the other things which follow from it, to the beginning of the 5th century, not however so confidently that he does not presently assert that the same could also be fixed later; to which latter opinion the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 3, page 273, not only subscribe, but also determinately extend the span of the episcopate, which in Tillemont's judgement might perhaps be deferred, up to the 6th century when it had run out to its middle part, about which time, in their opinion, the translation of St. Faith and the other martyrs of Agen was made, and their Acts written. But on the contrary the brothers Sainte-Marthe, and after them Denis de Sainte-Marthe, in volume 2 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 897, relate that St. Dulcidius was not only deacon and disciple of St. Phoebadius, bishop of Agen, who died about the end of the 4th century, but was also designated successor by him when he was already growing old; and they praise the Proper of the church of Agen, in which it is read that St. Dulcidius, on his master's death, by the will of God and with the acclamation of all the people, was established in the episcopal (Agen) chair, namely at the beginning of the 5th century, since, on the testimony of both Gallia Christianas, St. Dulcidius held it in the year 405. From which opinion it follows that the remaining things also, which depend on the epoch of his episcopate, are to be tied to the beginning of the 5th century.

[28] it is more probably to be placed about the beginning of the 5th century, But, you will ask, to which opinion is one rather to adhere? I answer that neither indeed seems to me entirely certain, but the latter pleases me much more, both because no old author of any kind and no urgent reason supports the former, and because the latter is older and more common, and besides resting on the authority of the Breviary of Agen and others, can also be strengthened from elsewhere. For since the basilica of St. Caprasius at Agen, to which, as Gregory of Tours writes in book 6, chapter 12, of the History of the Franks, the wife of Ragnovald fled in the year 581, as to an asylum venerable, as appears, for its ancient religion, and most safe, was already then in the 6th century most celebrated, nay, according to the constant tradition of the people of Agen, which M. Labénazie, on page 12 of his Dissertation on the episcopate of St. Caprasius, asserts is supported by monuments older than thirteen centuries, this same basilica is commonly believed to have been built even about the end of the 4th century, it follows from this, and, if the tradition of the people of Agen stands on every side, it becomes beyond doubt, that the episcopate of Dulcidius cannot be moved from the beginning of the 5th century, since that church was erected by the aforesaid prelate for laying up the relics of St. Caprasius, as the author of the Translation of St. Caprasius also testifies in these words: At length St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, gave himself to this work, to build a beautiful church for laying up the body of the holy martyr (Caprasius), which, aided by his merits, he completed with swift perseverance. Finally, our opinion is also supported by the old author of the Acts which exist in Labbe and others, praised above, when in his Prologue, which is found in our manuscript codex formerly of Vaucelles, and in the manuscript copies of St. Maximin of Trier, of St. Saviour of Utrecht and of Rouge-Cloître, he says that he wrote the Martyrdom of SS. Faith and Caprasius at a time when, through the relation of those succeeding one another, oblivion had not yet cut off the memory of the thing done (their Passion). For since these words cannot be extended, except less fittingly, to a space of nearly three centuries, and on the contrary are much more fittingly explained of one century and a few years added, in which space of time, namely, through the relation of four or five generations succeeding one another, the memory of the martyrdom itself and of its principal circumstances could easily still have flourished, hence it also seems to me nearer the truth that St. Dulcidius, in whose time that author wrote, held the see of Agen about the beginning of the 5th century, and thus about a hundred and fourteen years after the martyrdom of St. Faith, and that accordingly the epoch of the translation of which we are treating is to be fixed at that time.

[29] although some things, which are here refuted, Nor do the words of the same author, by which he intimates that Dulcidius sat when monks were already numerous in Aquitaine, gravely shake this opinion, nor do the things which he writes about the innumerable miracles afterwards worked at the more seemly tombs of St. Faith and St. Caprasius tell much against the age we have established for the same anonymous writer. For as regards the first, why should monks not rather have been numerous in Aquitaine at the beginning of the 5th century, at which time this province was subject to the emperor Honorius, readily devoted to the Ecclesiastical order, than about the middle of the 6th century, at which time it had indeed been snatched by the Franks from the dominion of the Gothic princes, Arians and hostile to the Orthodox, but not so long before that, since under the Goths, as Sidonius testifies in book 7, letter 6, even clerical discipline itself, nay even its memory, had perished there, the institute of monks ought to be believed to have been then restored more widely than it had been propagated in Aquitaine at the beginning of the 5th century? However that may be, certainly about the beginning of the 5th century, and for no little time before, St. Gregory of Tours in various places, and the author of the Poem on Divine Providence, ascribed by some to St. Prosper, show not obscurely that monks were sufficiently numerous in the Gauls. Finally, to pass over here the various testimonies which are recited in Mabillon's Preface to the First Benedictine Century from num. 17, nearly two thousand monks, as Sulpicius Severus writes, are said to have come together at the funeral of St. Martin, bishop of Tours, who died before the end of the 4th century. Why then should not a little later also sufficiently many monks have existed in Second Aquitaine, so that St. Dulcidius could call together some crowds of them, to assist with solemn rite, together with the other clerics, at the translation of the bodies of St. Faith and the other Martyrs of Agen to a more seemly place?

[30] But as regards those innumerable miracles which had been worked at the tomb of St. Faith already before the anonymous writer wrote, may be opposed against it, it by no means follows from this that he began his work only long after the revelation of her body, since, on the testimony of the author of her second Translation, written in prose, immediately after the body of St. Faith was laid by St. Dulcidius in an honourable place, the aforementioned Bride of Christ and Martyr began to shine with such signs of miracles that she gave light to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf, cured the possessed, and drove away all kinds of infirmities from various sick persons; with whom the author of the same second Translation, written in verse, also agrees, singing thus: After the treasure of the body of Faith the martyr was revealed, the sacred virgin began to be renowned for very many prodigies. And lest you doubt that both writers treat of the translation made by St. Dulcidius, the first writer expressly sets down the name of this prelate beforehand, while the other presently adds: Under her * name indeed Dulcidius, who was then prelate of the city, had wonderfully erected a church; and a little after, treating of the same, proceeds thus: But the body of the Virgin alone he laid apart in a certain building constructed in the suburb. In that place the Lord granted to those who asked the things that were necessary through her patronage. For to the sick He gave remedy, to the mute the office of the tongue, to the blind light, to the dead the breath of life, etc. Since all these things seem to have happened either in the very year of the first translation or in the few following, there is no reason why, on account of the multitude of the miracles worked at the tomb of St. Faith, we should remove the aforesaid author of her Martyrdom and first Translation by many years from the beginning of the 5th century, or should hold him to be a less fit and contemporary witness of the first translation than of the things which he relates as following it presently. And I have chosen to dispute these things somewhat more fully, in order that the history of the first translation of St. Faith, and of the more solemn cult begun from it, and its very epoch, may become more certain and manifest.

[31] the burial of St. Faith is recited, Now therefore from this writer, to whose statements on this subject the author of the metrical Life of St. Faith, perhaps Hildebert, bishop of Le Mans, and the old Breviaries, and among the more recent Tillemont, Baillet, Longueval and others have added their vote, we subjoin here the narrative of the burial and first translation. So he writes in Labbe, volume 2 of the Manuscript Library, page 530: The bodies of these (St. Faith and the Martyrs of Agen), therefore, torn by pitiable torments and cut down with their heads struck off, unbelieving heathendom left in the streets as things neglected: which the devout little flock of Christ secretly gathering with the highest veneration, and wiping off the outpouring of the sacred blood with the cleanest cloths, committed to burial in a place unworthy of such great sanctity; where they would seem not so much to have buried them as to have hidden them away. For, struck with grave fear, it dreaded lest the bodies of the Saints should be transferred elsewhere by the envy of the wicked; or, what is abominable, be sunk in the foul streams of the neighbouring river, and so be maliciously denied to holy Christianity. But by the providence of God it was brought about by the Faithful that the city which had them as inhabitants, enriched with a threefold honour, namely of their birth, passion and burial, deserved to have the same also as patrons for obtaining the grace of almighty God. Thus far the anonymous old writer, and indeed very consistently with Lactantius and Eusebius in what he relates in the first place, by whose testimony it is established that by order of the tyrants the sacred bodies of the Martyrs were into rivers

or seas were often cast, or were withdrawn from the Christians in some other way, lest they should be held in veneration by them; so that accordingly the people of Agen could rightly and deservedly fear a similar lot for the bodies of their Martyrs from Dacian, and thus ought to have been more anxious about hiding them away at once, as they could, than about burying them with any sort of honour. Further, that place where their bodies had been heaped together is still today held in veneration by the people of Agen, and from the Martyrs' remains laid there obtained the name of the Martyrdom, which it still keeps, as Duchesne in the Antiquities of Gaul, page 797, and du Saussay at this day, page 695, testify.

[32] then the finding and elevation of the body, The bodies of St. Faith and the other Martyrs of Agen had lain in that obscure place, heaped together rather than buried, when St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, divinely warned in the quiet of the night, set his hand to translating the sacred remains to a more seemly place. How these things happened, let us hear the anonymous writer narrating in his own words: In which place (namely of the first burial) the holy bodies lay for many returning years, until, all the profanity of heathendom having been removed, St. Dulcidius undertook the episcopate, and, bearing the pastoral charge, kept watch for the salvation of all. This prelate was pleased above all things to raise the relics of the Saints from their unseemly place and bring them forth into the light, a new basilica having been built for their veneration, the church itself being dedicated under the title of the holy Virgin. And when he was opening so great a treasure, and yet, not from incredulity but terrified with fear and reverence, hesitated for a long time, at last, warned in the quiet of the night not negligently to abandon what he had faithfully begun, he called together crowds of monks and the prelates of the rest of the order, and revealed his secret to all, and aided by their counsel carried it through to its accomplishment. And the rest of the people, concurring with their wishes, honourably raised the relics of the Saints from the ignoble place and set them in a sacred place; by whose merits innumerable miracles are worked from heaven for the salvation of all, through the bounty of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns through all ages of ages. Amen. So again the praised anonymous writer; whose words, however, since they do not set out distinctly enough the site of the church dedicated under the title of our holy Virgin, and may seem to assert that the bodies both of St. Faith and of the other Martyrs of Agen were honourably laid in one and the same basilica built by Dulcidius, it is pleasing to follow up with the clearer statements of another anonymous writer, namely him who comprised in prose the translation of St. Faith made from the city of Agen to the monastery of Conques, concerning whom there will be a proper place for speaking below.

[33] So he, at num. 5: But after many courses of years, the erection of a church in her honour all the fury of the heathens having been removed, a certain holy man, whose name was Dulcidius, having been advanced to the dignity of the pontificate, setting all else aside, built a church outside the wall of the same city (Agen) towards the northern quarter in the suburb, and consecrated the same to the heavenly Bridegroom under the veneration of the sacred Virgin (Faith). On this witness, therefore, the church dedicated under the title of St. Faith was outside the city walls, and, as he presently adds, the most blessed … virgin Faith, who excels the others (the martyrs of Agen) in the palm of martyrdom, he (St. Dulcidius) committed to the same basilica with the greatest honour, in a mausoleum cut from precious marble, on which, as the truth of the matter reveals down to today, in letters in relief *, the title of her passion is inscribed briefly beneath the gable. Further, the same writer most openly declares that the bodies of St. Caprasius, and perhaps of the rest of the Martyrs of Agen, were laid by Dulcidius not in this but in an entirely different church, proceeding thus: But St. Caprasius he carried within the walls of the city to the church founded there (by Dulcidius himself, as the most ancient tradition holds), and most diligently deposited him with like honour in a sarcophagus likewise of marble. The author of the second Translation, written in verse, who perhaps also, as will be said below, went before that anonymous writer, agrees, and likewise establishing two churches, in one of which the body of St. Faith was laid, in the other that of St. Caprasius, reconciles the later writer with the ancient anonymous one, who seems in appearance to dissent, and pours light on his statements, when he insinuates that the remains of SS. Faith, Caprasius and the other Martyrs were indeed brought forth into the light and seemly arranged by Dulcidius in one and the same basilica, but that the body of our holy Martyr was afterwards seemly entombed in the suburban church, and the bodies of the others in the greater basilica of the city itself, singing thus of Dulcidius: He had found the long-hidden relics of Faith, the illustrious martyr, together with her Companions, which he had seemly arranged within the walls of the city in the greater church, which was the chief one; but the body of the Virgin alone he laid apart in a certain building constructed in the suburb.

[34] But, you will say, since at least the author of the second Translation, written in prose, and its site and distinction from the other. made express mention of Stephen II, consecrated bishop of Auvergne or Clermont about the year of Christ 937, as is plain from volume 2 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 255, and thus lived more than four centuries removed from the first translation of St. Faith, his authority is to be held unequal to producing sufficiently certain credence for the circumstances of the first translation which he himself suggests. I confess that he has nothing from his age whereby he may extort credence here by his own assertion alone: but since the same writer, in order to make credible his words, confidently appeals to the mausoleum of St. Faith, still existing in his time in that church, and to the very title of her passion inscribed on it, there is no reason why credence should be denied him when he establishes two churches, in one of which the body of St. Faith, and in the other that of St. Caprasius, was honourably laid, as the author of the Translation written in verse also testifies; especially since from elsewhere also, namely from the contemporary anonymous author of the first Translation, it is manifest that St. Dulcidius, bishop of Agen, consecrated some church under the title of the holy virgin Faith; which the St. Gregory of Tours praised at num. 28 not only does not intimate to have been the same as that to which the wife of Ragnovald committed herself as an asylum, but on the contrary, when he calls the basilica to which this woman fled baldly and simply the basilica of St. Caprasius, seems to establish it as entirely different from the church which was adorned with the title of St. Faith. Moreover, on the testimony of Duchesne in the Antiquities of Gaul, page 797, besides the church of St. Caprasius, there still exists at Agen a church dedicated to God under the name of St. Faith, the same, as I think, of which each of the anonymous writers praised just now made mention, formerly indeed in the suburb of Agen, but afterwards, the boundaries of the city having been enlarged, joined to the city itself.

* Of St. Faith

* others: in the street

* others: in the eddies of the river

* supply "and"; or perhaps read "in relief work"

§ IV. The age and credibility of the authors who treated of the body of St. Faith translated from the city of Agen to the monastery of Conques: the epoch of this translation, of which an epitome is given, discussed and defined fairly closely. Whether the relics of St. Vincent, M., of Agen, were carried there from thence at the same time?

The age and credibility of the author who described this translation in prose. Being about to treat now of the various translations of the body of St. Faith, and in this § of that most celebrated one which conferred very great splendour and most ample riches on the monastery of Conques in the Rouergue, of the Order of St. Benedict, formerly, now a secular college of canons, it has seemed good not only to discourse somewhat more clearly on the age of each of the anonymous writers praised a little before, but also to inquire into the authority of the Chronographer of Conques, insofar as he treated the same subject, so that from this the prudent reader may discern what credence the things to be said below deserve. I take my beginning from the anonymous writer, a monk of Conques as it appears, who set out the second, or Conques, Translation of St. Faith in prose, because he explained that translation much more fully than the other, and did not leave untouched the subsequent one. That he, as one who openly mentions Stephen II, bishop of Auvergne or Clermont, most certainly did not write before the year of Christ 937, we said in the previous number; nay rather, since the anonymous writer, when he begins to speak about this prelate, uses these words: In the days also of Stephen, and besides brings in mention of the Codex of the miracles of St. Faith, namely, as it seems, that which Bernard, master of the school of Angers, as we shall say below, partly composed in the year of Christ 1020, as something very well known in his own times, it would hence not be unlike the truth that he composed his work only in the 11th century, not however when that had advanced beyond the sixtieth year, since that anonymous writer, who nevertheless commemorates the several translations made before his times, kept the deepest silence concerning the translation of St. Faith made by Odolric II, abbot of Conques, under Henry, king of the Franks. But what of the other anonymous writer, likewise, as it appears, a monk of Conques, who celebrated the same translation in a rhythmic poem or hymn in uniform rhyme, a form already in use then from the 9th century, as may be seen in Muratori, volume 3 of the Antiquitates, column 693 and following? I for my part would not dare to assert that he is undoubtedly about one century older than the other; there is nevertheless reason why this does not seem to me foreign to the truth.

[36] For he kept the deepest silence not only concerning Odolric II, and the aforesaid Stephen II, as also of the other, who described it in verse, and the translation of the head of St. Faith performed by him, of which there will be discussion below at num. 56, but also concerning the Codex of miracles mentioned above, and finally concerning the very miracles which preceded the age of Bernard of Angers; whence you might conjecture that he completed his rhythmic composition even before the year of Christ 937, or before Stephen was created bishop of Clermont from abbot of Conques and afterwards, with most magnificent pomp, put part of the head of St. Faith into the case of a wonderful structure; which composition, accordingly, that other anonymous writer, who comprised in prose all the memorable things which pertained to the relics of St. Faith up to his own times, could have had lighting his way, although he does not confess it. If it is permitted to conjecture, perhaps this writer, when he saw the Acts of the martyrdom set forth in prose by the ancient anonymous writer, and the chief or at least the most celebrated miracles of St. Faith at the beginning of the 11th century by Bernard, master of the school of Angers, wished also to contribute his own contribution of whatever sort, so that in not dissimilar language the history of the translations of the body of St. Faith also, and thus the whole history of the same Saint up to his own times, might be transmitted to posterity, and so that on that account he thought his own, written in a freer style, should be substituted for the Acts of the Conques translation written in verse. In whatever way these things may be, since no one older than those anonymous writers has thus far been found who has treated the subject of which we are treating ex professo, as they say, and even granting that the metrical writer was not contemporary with the Conques translation, performed, as will be shown below, before the year of Christ 889, nevertheless both not

lived certainly removed from it by so great an interval of time that they could not easily have understood, with truth unimpaired, a matter so memorable and partly done at home by their own brethren, through the relation of a few monks succeeding one another, or from the monuments of the monastery; it seems that we should not without reason stand by their narrative here, so long as nothing from elsewhere is against it.

[37] I come now to the author of the Chronicle of Conques, who made mention not only of the second and third translation of the relics of St. Faith, the Chronographer of Conques is also inquired into. but also of the fourth, performed under Odolric II, abbot of Conques, perhaps about the year of Christ 1040. That author, as may be gathered from the series of abbots of Conques, which he did not carry beyond Bego, who died before the year 1108, composed his Chronicle at the beginning of the 12th century, which Martène edited from the archives of the monastery of Conques in volume 3 of the Anecdota from column 1387, partly from the diplomas and charters of his monastery, partly from tradition and the common report among his brethren; and hence his authority is various according to the various things which he reviews: none indeed when he narrates without the testimony of approved credibility things removed from himself by many centuries, but on the contrary by no means to be despised when he relates things consonant with older monuments, or recounts those facts of which in a religious house, even without authentic instruments, there is usually a constant and truthful memory even beyond the course of one century. Wherefore, although that chronographer at times slipped in ordering the series of the older abbots, nay also in relating the circumstances of things done long before him, those very facts which he related either from recent or at any rate still constant memory, such as is the translation of the relics of St. Faith into the new basilica performed under Odolric II, are not on that account to be called into doubt; nor even those which he recounts as done in the 9th and 10th centuries, inasmuch as he could draw their substance either from the authentic Acts of the translations or without doubt from both of the older anonymous writers and bring it into his Chronicle, as he can rightly be judged to have in fact done. I now set about illustrating those several translations, as the matter requires.

[38] An epitome of this translation From the time when the body of St. Faith had been laid by St. Dulcidius at the beginning, as we said before, of the 5th century, in an honourable mausoleum in the suburban church at Agen, it at once began to shine with such signs of miracles, and to be frequented thereafter by so enormous and continual a concourse of peoples, that it ought not to seem strange that not long after Louis the Pious, still king of Aquitaine, had instituted the monastery of Conques in the diocese of Rodez, as Ermoldus Nigellus testifies in book 1 of the Deeds of Louis the Pious, its inhabitants the monks were driven by a most vehement desire to acquire so celebrated a treasure of relics, with which they might especially make their church illustrious; and that especially at the time when they saw that all the endeavour of Audald, a monk of Conques, who set out in the year 855 to Valencia in Spain to translate thence to Conques the body of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, had profited them nothing. Having therefore very often held counsel among themselves as to how they might translate to themselves the sacred pledges of St. Faith, the monks of Conques at length directed to Agen one of their number, by name Arinisdus or Ariviscus, a man ready in counsel and in hand, with a guide for the journey, that he should by whatever art obtain the relics of St. Faith and carry them off to their church. Arinisdus therefore, by no means forgetful of the purpose for which he had come to Agen, first studied, partly by feigned piety, partly by blandishments and flatteries, to immerse himself deeply in the intimacy and friendship of the clerics upon whom the charge of guarding the body of St. Faith lay, and he knew how to ensnare them so well that they, suspecting nothing of the kind, at length with unanimous consent committed the sheep, as they say, to the wolf, or their treasure to a most cunning thief. Having conducted the matter excellently for some while, the better to conceal his design, and having obtained the reputation of a diligent keeper, he at length seized an opportune occasion of carrying off the sacred body.

[39] is supplied from these; The solemnities of Mass having been completed on the feast of the Epiphany, he begs his colleagues that, while they reclined at table longer than usual on account of the solemnity of the day, he himself might diligently keep guard over the church, lest it should suffer any harm. The improvident assent readily; and without delay, while they were now eating securely, he too, now secure from them all, flies to the mausoleum of St. Faith, and since he could not raise its lid intact because of the iron seals, he breaks the mausoleum open by force in its lower part, and where a way was given, drawing out through the opening made the remains of the holy Martyr, he lays them in a very clean bag, and, calling the companion of his journey, as soon as it was possible under cover of darkness, he runs off with the sacred booty. When therefore on the following day Arinisdus nowhere appeared, and the tomb of St. Faith was found broken open and empty of the sacred body, all were vehemently troubled, grieved, lamented their own imprudence, and left nothing untried if in any way Arinisdus could be drawn back from his flight with that treasure; but all that they did was in vain. And so, after various adventures which are recounted at length in the Acts of the Translation to be edited below, Arinisdus and his companion arrived unharmed on the ninth day of their journey in the neighbourhood of the monastery of Conques, where they were received by its inhabitants with the greatest joy and applause, and the sacred pledges of our Martyr were carried with no less pomp and gladness into the church of Conques, and there placed in as seemly a place as time permitted, under diligent guard, on the 19th day before the Kalends of February, on which day the memory of this translation is also customarily celebrated. So, roughly, but much more fully, both the anonymous writers praised above, with whom the chronographer of Conques also agrees, writing thus in a few words: From the city of Agen, with the body of blessed Vincent, the body of the most glorious virgin and martyr Faith was stealthily carried off and translated to that monastery of Conques, where it was worthily and honourably laid back near the altar of the Lord Saviour. Add to these that in fairly old manuscript codices of Ado's Chronicle, at the year of Christ 288, there exists a testimony by which it is also expressly asserted that St. Faith suffered at Agen and was afterwards translated to Conques *.

[40] But concerning the time at which this translation of the body of St. Faith is to be placed, on whose epoch the disagreement among themselves of Ado's Chronicle, there is not such agreement among ancient and more recent writers; on the contrary, if the words of each are weighed, neither can both the anonymous writers of the Translation praised above be reconciled on every side with the testimony of Ado's Chronicle, nor these with the Chronographer of Conques, nor, among the more recent, our Henschenius with those anonymous writers, and much less with these Denis de Sainte-Marthe, who also fights with himself. For since St. Ado, as the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 5, page 465, show from Mabillon, passed to a better life in the year of Christ 875, and seems to have put the last hand to his Chronicle about the year 874, it follows either that that work, at the place where mention is made of the martyrdom of St. Faith and on that occasion of her body translated to the monastery of Conques, was corrupted or rather interpolated by the copyists, which however no one hitherto that I know of has suspected of this particular place, much less rendered sufficiently probable; or, if it is genuine in that place, it is necessary that the translation there mentioned can be placed certainly not later than the year of Christ 875, since it is evident that that celebrated translation of St. Faith could not have been related by Ado in his Chronicle if it had not yet been made in his time. Nay indeed, that it happened not a little before the times of Ado is intimated by the Chartres manuscript codex on the Miracles of St. Faith, which Mabillon mentions in the Benedictine Annals at the year 1010, num. 42, page 215, where express discourse is made of a golden reliquary of St. Faith given to the monks of Conques, as is reported, by Charlemagne, and therefore before the year 814.

[41] But on the other hand, against its being possible to believe that that translation was made already before the death of Ado, of both anonymous writers, authors of the Translation, stand both the authors of the Translation already often praised, who tie it to the times of Charles the Lesser, king of the Franks, namely him Whom, as one says, the Franks afterwards deposed from the royal throne, or, as the other speaks, Whom the princes of his dominion, conspiring unjustly against him, cast down from the royal throne, and in whose place they set the crown of the kingdom on Otto or Odo, duke of the Aquitanians, son of Robert the Strong, and chose him to reign in his stead; and since this Charles the Lesser cannot be different from him who had the surname the Fat, inasmuch as the Franks, after they had subjected themselves to his rule in the year of Christ 885, cast him from the throne before the 12th day of January of the year 888, and in his place raised Odo, duke of Aquitaine, to the kingdom, as Adémar of Chabannes testifies in his Chronicle in Bouquet, volume 8, page 232; it must hence follow, against the testimony of Ado's Chronicle, that the translation of St. Faith was made under this king Charles, and ought to be placed between the year 885 and 888. This epoch of the translation is certainly supported by very many diplomas given in favour of the monastery of Conques, which you have in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana from column 236 and in the Instrumenta there, as also in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc from column 21, and in Baluze in the Instrumenta of the house of Auvergne, in which no mention is made of St. Faith before the times of Charles the Fat, whereas in those which were issued either in the time of the same Charles or afterwards, most express words are read concerning the relics of St. Faith as laid up in the church of Conques; which is no slight indication that the body of our holy Martyr was translated from the church of Agen to that of Conques in the lifetime of king Charles the Fat.

[42] of the Chronographer of Conques, But the words of the praised chronographer of Conques seem to fight entirely against this epoch, by which, in volume 3 of Martène's Anecdota, column 1387, he ties that translation indeed to the times of a certain Charles the Lesser, but one whom he presently intimates, at column 1389, to be different from Charles the Fat, when he writes that the aforesaid Charles the Lesser recovered the kingdom of France and assented to the petitions of Rodulf, abbot of Conques about the year of Christ 910; which by no reckoning at all fall upon Charles the Fat, as is clearer than midday light from his lamentable death, deserted by his own and stripped of all his goods, on which consult the Chronicle of Marianus Scotus, page 270, at the year 887, and the other writers at the following year in Bouquet, volume 8. Wherefore, if one must stand by the last words of the Chronicle of Conques as they are edited there, that translation would have happened between the year 893 and 923, namely in the reign of Charles the Simple, who munificently granted by royal precept to Rodulf, abbot of Conques, who earnestly requested it, as that chronographer writes, the confirmation of the gifts which his predecessors had obtained from the kings. And so, among the more recent, Denis de Sainte-Marthe also judged, in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 239, that the words of the praised chronographer, by which he here places that translation under Charles the Lesser,

son of Louis, raised to the kingdom of the Franks, are to be understood with this annotation in the margin: Called the Simple, posthumous son of Louis the Stammerer, in the third year of whose reign, as he presently adds, the abbey of Conques was increased in goods by the liberality of a certain Avierna and her sons; so that in the opinion of the praised Sainte-Marthe the translation of which the question is here was either later than the year 893, in which Charles the Simple was raised to the kingdom on the 28th day of January in the city of Reims, as the Annals of Metz testify in Bouquet, volume 8, page 73, or at any rate cannot be set earlier.

[43] of Denis de Sainte-Marthe, It could however be replied here, quite deservedly, that the praised Sainte-Marthe a little before, namely at column 236, tied that translation to the times of Charles the Bald, and therefore to the time between the year of Christ 838, in which he was presented by the emperor Louis the Pious with arms, a crown and a certain portion of the kingdom, and the year 877, in which, as the Chronicle of Verdun testifies in Bouquet, volume 7, page 248, he departed this life on the day before the Nones of October. The very words in which Sainte-Marthe does this are these: In the time of Charles the Bald, son of Louis, the body of St. Faith was carried there (to the monastery of Conques), whose name was sometimes applied to this monastery. Add that the same most illustrious man, at column 239, praises the charter of Sigald or Sigualdus and his wife Aiga or Aigua, issued in the year 888, in which manifest mention is made of the relics of St. Faith already then translated to the monastery of Conques, and of the name of the same Saint thence given to the sacred building; so that accordingly he is rather to be said to have placed this translation before Charles the Simple, or before the year 893. I confess Sainte-Marthe has it so in the places cited, and I cannot sufficiently perceive in what way he can be reconciled with himself, or which of these opinions he himself held to be more probable. But in whatever way these things may be, certainly his opinion which places that translation under Charles the Simple is entirely opposed not only to the testimony of Ado's Chronicle and to both authors of the Translation, but also to the already praised charter of Sigualdus and the others which we indicated at the end of num. 41; while the other, which places it under Charles the Bald, fights no less openly with both anonymous authors of the Translation; so that, contrary to what is asserted there at column 1330, there would certainly be something departing from the truth to be corrected in that volume of the Gallia Christiana.

[44] But as regards our Henschenius, praised at num. 40, and the words of Henschenius are recited; he defends an opinion different from those reviewed thus far, when, in volume 2 of June, inquiring whether the relics of St. Vincent, martyr of Agen, were translated to Conques together with the remains of St. Faith, he writes on page 165 in these words: But what most pertains here, his (St. Vincent's) relics were not translated to the monastery of Conques together with the precious pledges of St. Faith: for these were carried off from their own church by a certain stealthy industry of Aronisdus, a monk of Conques, and conveyed to Conques about the year DCCCXC, when Odo the Aquitanian ruled the kingdom of France in place of Charles the Simple, as the Acts of the Translation, which we have written both in prose and in verse, accurately indicate; whence also the Sainte-Marthes teach that the monastery was called St. Faith of Conques. And so, in the judgement of Henschenius, this translation of the body of St. Faith is to be placed before the year 893, which was the first of Charles the Simple, king of the Franks, and yet not earlier than the year 888, in which Odo the Aquitanian began to govern the kingdom of the Franks. I forbear to add to these other authors of great name, because they either brought forward no documents for their assertion, or thought the epoch of this translation was to be defined only in a broader manner. Now I undertake to discuss, as far as so involved a matter allows, which of opinions so discordant among themselves may be said to have come nearer the truth, and by the same labour to separate the certainly false from the true or at least the probable.

[45] And first indeed, that among so many things controverted on both sides I may put forward something beyond doubt, and it is shown that it cannot be placed later than the year 888, and at the same time establish a certain limit outside which the epoch of the translation cannot be fixed, I plainly think and assert thus: that the translation of which the question here is cannot be placed later than the year of Christ 888, and accordingly that, contrary to what the chronographer of Conques at column 1389 and Denis de Sainte-Marthe at column 239 seem to have determined, it did not happen in the times of Charles the Simple, first raised to the kingdom of the Franks in the year 893, as was said above at num. 42. For since in the praised charter of Sigualdus and his wife Aigua, given in the middle month (perhaps May), in the 1st year of the reign of king Odo, or the year of Christ 888, which you have in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc among the Instrumenta, column 23, mention is made in express words of the relics of St. Faith already then resting and laid up in the monastery of Conques, and of the name of St. Faith given to that monastery, as was also said at num. 43 and 44, it is clearer than midday light even from this that that translation can by no reckoning be fixed to the times of Charles the Simple, raised to the kingdom of the Franks only in the year 893. Wherefore the chronographer of Conques, when at column 1389 he seems to make that king Charles, to whom Rodulf, abbot of Conques, went about the year 910, the same as him under whom he had written that the translation of the relics of St. Faith was made, must entirely be said to have wrongly confused Charles the Simple with one or other of his namesake predecessors; unless rather we say that in that same column, just as elsewhere, something is lacking in the edition of this Chronicle, for instance the royal inauguration of the same Charles the Simple, or something similar, with which these words of the chronographer have connection: The aforesaid Charles the Lesser; and so, adhering to his earlier words, which you have in volume 3 of the Anecdota, column 1387, this translation would, even according to his mind, have to be placed before the times of Odo, duke of Aquitaine, or before the year of Christ 888, inasmuch as he writes that this prince came into the kingdom of the Franks only after the translation of St. Faith had already been related. However these things may be, certainly the authority of the charter of Sigualdus and of the two anonymous writers must by every right be held in higher place than the Chronicle of Conques, at least as it has been edited in print.

[46] nor under the rule of Odo the Aquitanian; From these it also follows that our Henschenius, although in placing that translation about the year 890 he comes nearer than Sainte-Marthe to the anonymous authors of the Translation, nevertheless does not write entirely consonantly with their statements, when he adds that at the time of the translation Odo the Aquitanian ruled the kingdom of France in place of Charles the Simple. For since before the death of Charles the Fat, which happened on the day before the Ides of January of the year 888, or at any rate before the month of November of the year 887, in which Charles the Fat, still emperor and king of the Franks, called together a general assembly of the nobles at the royal villa of Tribur, Odo the Aquitanian did not rule over the Franks either with the title of king or, as some will have it, as guardian of Charles the Simple or governor of the kingdom, the translation, which on the testimony of both anonymous writers was made on the 14th day of January, cannot be placed under his administration except either in the year 888 itself or one of the following; but, as is plain from the charter of Sigualdus, certainly this translation could not have happened in the year 889 or 890, nay not even in the year 888 itself on the 14th day of January, inasmuch as, on the testimony of both anonymous writers, it was made while Charles the Lesser, king of the Franks, was still ruling, whom without doubt only at the close of the year 887 the princes of his dominion … cast down from the royal throne, and in whose place afterwards they set the crown of the kingdom on Otto or Odo, duke of the Aquitanians; and so that translation of which the question is here must be fixed both earlier than the year 888, and therefore also before the royal administration of Odo. The already often praised charter of Sigualdus, given in the year 888 in the middle month, or perhaps May, also suggests this, in which, where discourse is made of the relics of St. Faith laid up in the monastery of Conques, it is nowhere insinuated that they had then been brought there only three or four months before; which however, had it been so, it seems would not have been passed over in silence.

[47] And thus indeed we have a defined time later than which this translation cannot be fixed, but neither many years earlier than the year 887,. But is this translation to be placed, as both anonymous authors of the Translation assert, in the time of Charles the Fat, and indeed, as follows from them, in the year 886 or 887; or rather, as follows from the testimony of the manuscript codex of Chartres praised at num. 40 and of Ado's Chronicle, some years, nay much, before the year of Ado's death, which was the eight hundred and seventy-fifth of Christ? I answer that, besides its being doubtful to me whether those words of the codex of Chartres, by which Charlemagne is reported to have given a golden reliquary to St. Faith, are really those of Bernard, who in the year of Christ 1020 partly put into writing the miracles of our holy Martyr worked in his time, inasmuch as they are found neither in our manuscript nor in Labbe's, one must rather stand by the most express testimony of both authors of the Translation and of the Chronographer of Conques, by which they assert that the body of St. Faith was stealthily carried to the church of Conques under a certain Charles the Lesser, and when the 9th century was already grown up, than by an uncertain rumour spread among outsiders nearly two centuries after the translation was performed, and for which the author of the aforesaid codex by no means writes himself as surety, when he speaks thus: The golden reliquary (of St. Faith), which Charlemagne is reported to have given. Add that the perpetual silence about the body of St. Faith in the diplomas granted in favour of the monastery of Conques under Louis the Pious and his descendants up to the times of Charles the Fat does not easily permit it to be believed that the remains of this Martyr were carried to the church of Conques already under Charlemagne, as I intimated at the end of num. 41.

[48] But as regards Ado, whose authority is on every side more excellent than that codex, [although the codices of the Chronicle of St. Ado, which in this place were corrupted or interpolated] I answer that, if it were sufficiently established that the testimony which is praised under his name is really his, one would have to stand by it rather than by the testimony of the anonymous writers by which they place that translation in the times of Charles the Fat, and accordingly I should not hesitate to charge these here with a lapse of memory or carelessness. But since all the editions of Ado's Chronicle, as Labbe testifies in volume 1 On Ecclesiastical Writers, page XI, teem with innumerable errors, and the codices, written by hand five hundred and more years ago, not only were most certainly enlarged at the end by the work of an unskilled continuator, but can also most truly be said to have been adulterated elsewhere, whether by the fault of the same or of other copyists, as from the examples adduced by Labbe in the place cited, and Tillemont's

Notes on the Acts of St. Irenaeus, volume 3 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, pages 621 and 622, and finally from volume V of the Histoire littéraire, page 470, is evidently shown, it may not undeservedly be doubted whether those particular words of Ado's Chronicle, from which it would follow, against the express testimony of both anonymous writers, that that translation happened before the year 875, are not to be counted among those innumerable errors of which there is discussion in Labbe, and also among the interpolations of the continuator or of the copyists of which there is discussion in others. Certainly, if it was permitted to Tillemont, Note 3 on the Acts of St. Irenaeus, volume 3, page 622, to suspect, even for this reason, that St. Ado in his Martyrology did not relate St. Verus as bishop of Vienne, that Ado's Chronicle at the year of Christ 101, where mention is made of him, had been interpolated, or that the words which that Chronicle presents in the cited place are not really Ado's; assuredly with much greater right it will be permitted to suspect the same of that place where, at the year of Christ 288, discourse is made of the Conques translation of which we are treating.

[49] are shown to intimate the contrary; For since the holy Chronographer thought that that celebrated revelation of the body of St. Maurice made to St. Theodore the bishop, and even the very translation of that sacred body, performed by the will of Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, on the advice of 60 bishops, of which he also partly makes mention in his Martyrology, were to be wrapped in the deepest silence in his Chronicle, as pertaining nothing to the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian which he narrates there, how, I ask, can he be believed to have commemorated in the same place the stealthy translation of the body of St. Faith, since this other was much less celebrated, and could by no reckoning at all pertain to the matter which St. Ado was treating? Add that this place of the Chronicle seems to require that those whom the author believed joined by the same profession, the same legion, the same cause of death, and almost the same time, should not be separated from one another. And behold for you, in this place of the Chronicle, between Gereon and Victor and Maurice with his Theban companions, the translation of St. Faith to the monastery of Conques in the middle! What has the Virgin of Agen in common with the Theban soldiers, besides martyrdom? What has the translation of her body to do with the atrocity of the persecution, which he adds blazed so cruelly and frequently that within one month eighteen thousand Martyrs are found to have suffered for Christ? These things indeed suggest to me a suspicion that Ado's Chronicle was interpolated by someone less skilled, perhaps a monk of Conques, and that suspicion is not unfounded even on this head, that the narrative of the Chronicle does not agree rightly enough with the announcement of Ado's Martyrology, which passes over the martyr Companions of St. Faith and her translation itself, and that in the same Chronicle, in that very place, three hundred and twenty-eight companions are joined to St. Gereon, who in his Martyrology are related to have been only three hundred and eighteen.

[50] [and finally from both authors of the Translation it is placed in the year 886 or 887.] Since these things show that this place of Ado's Chronicle is all but undoubtedly interpolated, I think that one must stand here rather by the authority of the anonymous writers, of whom one perhaps lived contemporary with the translation, and both at least not so remote from it in time that they could not commit certain things to writing from the constant tradition of their housemates or the monuments of the monastery; and especially because neither of them treated it in passing, but each set out ex professo, with the greatest effort and clearly, the several things which bear on this Translation. It will help to have repeated their words here, so that, as nearly as can be, the epoch of this translation may at last be fixed from them. Thus the metrical writer sings of the monks of Conques going to meet Arinisdus arriving from Agen with the sacred relics of St. Faith: To him the throng of the men of Conques, sounding the praises of God, rejoicing for so great a glory, came forth to meet him, and, having received the relics, with divine services, as it was worthy to do, they took care to lay them up. Then in the parts of the Franks reigned Charles the Lesser, whom afterwards the Franks deposed from the royal throne. This translation of blessed Faith the martyr was made on the nineteenth day before the Kalends of February. Hence at Conques this most celebrated day is kept, on which to Christ be glory through infinite ages. Amen. But the other writer of the Translation, treating of the same monks, speaks in these words: With hymns and canticles of litanies they returned, and brought in the body of the most blessed Martyr of Christ with the highest honour and glory into the temple especially dedicated under the title of the holy and supreme Saviour Jesus Christ, and with the greatest caution venerably set it in a most seemly place under diligent guard on the 19th day before the Kalends of February; at that same time, namely, while Charles the Lesser, king of the Franks, was ruling, whom the princes of his dominion, conspiring unjustly against him, cast down from the royal throne, and set the crown of the kingdom on Otto *, duke of the Aquitanians, and chose him to reign in his stead. From which it follows that, since in the year of Christ 885, before the 14th day of January, the Franks had not submitted themselves to Charles the Fat, as will be evident to one consulting the various writers in Bouquet, volume 8, this translation was not made in that year, nor also, as is plain from num. 46, on the 12th day of January of the year 888; so that therefore, on the testimony of these, it must necessarily be placed on the 12th day of January either of the year of Christ 886 or of 887.

278B It remains that we illustrate somewhat what was said at num. 39 by the chronographer of Conques, on the occasion of this translation, about the relics of St. Vincent, martyr of Agen, also carried over to the monastery of Conques, About that time the relics of St. Vincent, M., of Agen and that most of all because these were touched on by our Henschenius in volume 2 of June in rather few words for want of monuments. For since Henschenius saw that in the Acts of the Translation of the body of St. Faith, to be edited below, no mention is made of the relics of this St. Vincent as carried to Conques at the same time, nor had before his eyes sufficiently ancient documents which tied the translation of both bodies to the same time, he at first, at page 165, column 2, denied that his relics were translated to the monastery of Conques together with the precious pledges of St. Faith, and a little after seemed to have somewhat doubted whether they had ever been carried to Conques at all, wishing for the rest to be advised by learned lovers of the saints if it were established from anywhere that they had either been translated there or were preserved there. I have found nothing in our literary equipment from which it is clear that his just desire has been satisfied; but the Chronicle of Conques and the charter of Sigualdus, which were published in print after the year 1698, supply this defect so far as to make it manifest that the relics of this Vincent were carried over to the church of Conques even before the year of Christ 888.

[52] For so the former writes: Charles the Lesser, son of Louis (namely, were also carried to Conques. as follows from what has already been said, king of Germany), (who had the surname the Fat), having been raised to the kingdom of the Franks, from the city of Agen, with the body of blessed Vincent, the body of the most glorious virgin and martyr Faith was stealthily carried off; and in that charter of Sigualdus it is also expressly related that the relics of St. Vincent and of St. Faith the martyr rest in the church of Conques, and that the name was given to it from these; so that there seems no further room to doubt about the relics of St. Vincent having at some time been translated there. But whether these were translated to Conques from the city of Agen, as the Chronographer of Conques writes, or rather, as the Acts of his Martyrdom, edited from the old Lessons of the church of Agen in volume 2 of June, affirm, from Pompejacum, a place of the diocese of Agen, and that in such a way that no part of the sacred body was left in the former place, I have nothing to set out, as neither by whose work this translation was made. It is credible that the monks of Conques, since they wished by whatever way to enrich their church with relics of the Saints, as they directed Arinisdus to Agen to procure for themselves the relics of St. Faith, so sent some other of their number either to Agen, or rather to Pompejacum, a place of the district of Agen, to translate to themselves, in place of the body of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr of Valencia in Spain, which Audald, having found it in the year 855, could not bring all the way to his monastery of Conques, the relics of the other St. Vincent, namely the martyr of Agen; which matter at length succeeded for him either at the same or at a neighbouring time to that at which the translation of the relics of St. Faith was made, as the Chronographer of Conques handed down to memory.

* Conques

* Odo

§ V. The translation of the whole body of St. Faith into the new basilica attempted in vain by the monks of Conques: part of her head placed most magnificently. The translation of the body into the new basilica at length performed. Whether and when some relics of St. Faith were translated into Spain?

Into the newly built basilica, by divine power, cannot be translated The body of St. Faith having been carried about the year of Christ 886, as we endeavoured to prove in the preceding §, by the monk Arinisdus from the church of Agen to that of Conques, not only did a solemn cult begin to be paid to it by the inhabitants and neighbours at once, and afterwards on the anniversary day of the translation, but also at very many other times a multitude of pious men flowed together from every side to venerate these sacred relics, and that at times so enormous that the enclosures of the monastery of Conques, although already then very ample, by no means held it, and thus the crowded throngs of strangers became troublesome both to one another and to the monks. When Stephen, a man of excellent sanctity, who, as may be seen in volume 2 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 255, held both the abbey of Conques and the bishopric of Clermont from the year of Christ 937, saw these things, he was the author to the monks of Conques of building a new basilica and bringing the body of St. Faith into it, namely with the design that an easier access might continually lie open to all who flowed together there and visited it, as the anonymous author of the Translation written in prose testifies, and also, as the same intimates, that in this way both monastic discipline and the manner of performing the divine Office might suffer the less harm from the frequent approach of the throngs. The most skilful prelate Stephen persuaded the monks, and shortly after, a most diligent hand having been set to the work, a basilica of the greatest beauty, as the same anonymous writer again writes, was constructed from the foundation …, in which the body of the sacred Virgin might be committed to entombment.

[54] the whole body of St. Faith, over which a magnificent case is built; That church had already been consecrated duly and magnificently, and men of lofty merit had been chosen who, above others, would be fit to move the holy Martyr of Christ from her place and carry her with the greatest humility to the newly built church, as our anonymous writer adds in set words; and already they were going to lift up the sacred body with all fitting religion, when by divine power it remained fixed with so great a weight that (the words are again the anonymous writer's) it persisted immovable in the manner of a mountain. The chosen bearers therefore, fearing that they had not touched that sacred pledge worthily enough, fasts and prayers for themselves, before

they should make another attempt, they freely proclaim; and these completed, they again set about the task committed to them; but with the same, that is, a vain, outcome. Wherefore they determine to undergo now a sharper and longer maceration of the flesh, so that a third attempt might succeed better for them: but by the inscrutable judgement of God, as they tried again to move it from its place, the sacred body persisted immovable as before. Recognizing therefore that their undertaking was unlawful and, as the same anonymous writer says, forbidden to them by the will of God, they endeavoured to fabricate, beside the rear side of the altar of the aforesaid holy and supreme Saviour Jesus Christ, the case of a wonderful structure with every pomp of glowing gold and flashing gems, under which the most worthy Virgin (whose body they had been unable to translate into the newly built church), sealed up, rests happily in Christ.

[55] Thus far the already often praised author; who however nowhere indicates closely enough in which year of the episcopate of Stephen II these things were done. and this seems to have been done about the year 940, If however it is permitted to draw a conjecture from elsewhere, I should think that that prelate, who, as Gallia Christiana testifies, volume 2, column 255, having been raised to the see of Clermont in the year of Christ 937, seems never to have given up the abbey of Conques previously committed to him, or at least part of the abbey, being, as the Chronographer of Conques testifies, a man of excellent sanctity, was solicitous for the interests of the monastery of Conques, whose rule he had undertaken, before the convenience of outsiders, and that thus both the new basilica into which the body of St. Faith was to be translated, and the attempted translation of it into that basilica, can be placed about the year of Christ 940, or at least somewhat before he began the monastery of Sauxillanges in Auvergne, which, as may be seen in the cited volume of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, happened in the year of Christ 945. But what does the chronographer praised a little before mean here, when he writes of the same Stephen in these words: He finally granted to blessed Faith the church of Roffiac with its appurtenances and several other villas in the district of Auvergne, and was the author (as is reported) of … of the same glorious Virgin and Martyr. Where also he venerably laid up part of her very head, and conferred many other benefits, as is read, on his monastery?

[56] Edmond Martène or his colleague Ursin Durand, in volume 3 of the Anecdota, column 1389, conjectures at what time perhaps the golden statue was constructed by order of Stephen II, that the lacuna which comes after τὸ martyris is to be filled with the word translation or a noun akin to it; but this indeed does not much please me, since the glorious Virgin and Martyr, as the Chronographer speaks, was not in fact, as we have seen, translated under Stephen II into the newly built basilica, so that accordingly he could not commonly have been believed in the Chronographer's age to have been the author of the translation of St. Faith; unless perhaps this writer wished nothing else to be indicated by these his words than that the translation of the body of St. Faith was attempted, but not accomplished, at Stephen's urging. But these words which follow the lacuna: Where also he venerably laid up part of her very head (St. Faith's), seem rather to indicate that Stephen was believed to have been the author of some such thing where he might venerably lay up part of the head of St. Faith, for instance a statue or precious image, than indeed of a translation of the body of St. Faith. However these things may be, I certainly do not see to whom more rightly than to Stephen II can be attributed the statue venerable for certain pledges of St. Faith, which, before the translation of the body performed by Odolric, abbot of Conques, to be reviewed below, nay already in the year 1010, about which time Bernard, master of the school of Angers, began to write the book of the Miracles of St. Faith, was customarily carried at times in a solemn column of suppliants.

[57] in which he himself laid up part of the head of St. Faith most honourably. For since no translation, whether of the whole body or of part of it, is recorded as having preceded the translation of the body of St. Faith attempted under Stephen II from the time it was carried to Conques, or as having followed up to about the middle of the 11th century, it follows that some pledges of hers, which even before the year 1010 had been put into the golden statue of St. Faith, were translated into that same reliquary at no other time than that at which, under Stephen II, the monks of Conques tried in vain to carry the whole body into the new church. Which opinion indeed the words of the Conques chronographer entirely support, in which he writes that Stephen II venerably laid up part of the head of St. Faith somewhere. That prelate, namely, will have wished, and persuaded his monks, that, since the whole body of St. Faith could not be moved from the side of the altar of St. Saviour, they should take care that a most splendid case be built for her there, while he himself took upon himself the care of making her most precious statue, into which, to arouse and increase the piety of the peoples, with Heaven assenting, he inserted some part of the head of St. Faith. But, you will say, in the Chartres manuscript codex of the Miracles of St. Faith, where discourse is made of her miracles worked in the procession in Auvergne, these words are read: The image of St. Faith and the golden reliquary which Charlemagne is reported to have given. I answer, as already before at num. 47, that these are found nowhere either in our manuscript copy of the old codex of the Queen of Sweden or in the old one which Labbe used; and even if they were found in both, greater credence must be given to both anonymous authors of the Translation and likewise to the Chronographer of Conques, who assertively place the celebrated translation of St. Faith to the monastery of Conques under some Charles of the descendants of Charlemagne, than to the uncertain rumour of the common people in the 11th century, by which the golden reliquary or image of St. Faith at Conques is wrongly ascribed to the liberality of Charlemagne.

[58] The translation of the body of St. Faith at length performed I come now to the translation of the body of St. Faith, happily performed at last under Oldoric II, abbot of Conques, nearly a century after that attempted under Stephen II, of which not even the anonymous author of the Translation written in prose, as being older than it, could make any mention in his composition. In his place, therefore, let us hear here the Chronographer of Conques, mentioned more than once before, speaking: so he, in the cited volume 3 of the Anecdota, column 1390: Odolric (namely the II abbot of Conques of this name), adorned with virtue and good character … nobly ruled the monastery of Conques, completed the basilica for the greatest part, sought out and increased many honours round about, and translated the body of blessed Faith from the old church into the new basilica. Thus far he, but not clearly enough for you to define from these his words the epoch of the translation closely enough. Let us therefore observe a few things on them. That Odolric II administered the monastery of Conques under Henry, king of the Franks, who succeeded his father Robert in the year of Christ 1031 and ruled the French up to the year 1060, and that he performed that translation while the same king was still living, the praised chronographer insinuates elsewhere in two places; so that accordingly this translation cannot be placed later than the year 1060; and since Henry was not created king of the French before the year 1031, and about the same time Odolric, whom the enlarged Gallia Christiana, volume 1, column 242, writes sat about the year 1035, entered on the rule of the monastery of Conques, it follows that that translation did not happen before the year 1031 either, and that it is thus without doubt to be placed in that intervening time, and perhaps in the centenary year of that in which it had been attempted in vain under Stephen II.

[59] However, whether by the new basilica into which Odolric is related to have translated the body of St. Faith into the new basilica, of which some sort of description is given. is to be understood that whose construction Stephen II saw to, or whether Odolric also built a new one (for, on the testimony of the Chartres codex of the Miracles of St. Faith, the basilica of Conques was threefold in the dimension of its roofs from the outside), testimonies do not suffice me to define either with certainty. It would not however be strange if Odolric not only completed the whole basilica for the greatest part, but also erected one of its three parts from the foundations, inasmuch as he lived in those times in which, whether on the occasion of the frequent miracles of St. Faith or from the singular piety of both nobles and commoners towards the holy Martyr, the church of Conques could not but abound in riches, as is plain from the very many diplomas of donations reviewed in volume 1 of the Gallia Christiana from column 240, and even from Odolric's successor, who, as the same Chronographer testifies, had riches enough to construct the cloister of the monastery, set many relics in gold, have texts of the Gospels made, and do many good things for the monastery. Nevertheless, as I said above, it is not made beyond doubt, either from the Chronographer's words or from elsewhere, that that part of the church of Conques into which he is related to have translated the body of blessed Faith was in fact built anew by Odolric. Have now, taken from the Benedictine Annals, volume 4, page 215, some sort of description of the church of Conques as it was in the age of the writer of the Chartres codex cited above: It is, he says, a basilica threefold from the outside in the dimension of its roofs, which inside, on account of the mutual breadth of passage, comes together into one body of church… The right side is dedicated under the title of St. Peter the Apostle, the left of St. Mary; but the middle under the title of the holy Saviour. But because this same middle is held frequented with assiduity of psalmody, thither from their own place the precious pledges of the holy Martyr (Faith) were translated; namely either under Odolric II, abbot of Conques, if discourse is here of the whole body of St. Faith; or rather under Stephen II, if by the precious pledges of St. Faith that writer wished to indicate nothing else than the statue enriched with part of her head, as he must entirely be judged to have wished to indicate, if Bernard, master of the school of Angers, really wrote these things.

[60] It remains that we likewise call to examination what certain Spanish writers assert about the body of St. Faith translated from Gaul into Spain, some relics of St. Faith into Spain, not in the 8th century, and so put an end to the lengthy subject of the translations of the holy Martyr. And first indeed Bivar, the interpreter of pseudo-Dexter, at the year of Christ 300, page 317, treating of St. Faith, relates and asserts things from which any incautious person, hearing old monuments praised by him, might easily persuade himself that in the course of the 8th century, and long before the body of the Saint was carried to the church of Conques, it was brought from the Gauls into the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès in Catalonia, and had been honourably laid up there from that time; for so he writes in the cited place: The sacred body (of St. Faith), brought to the Spains, was honourably laid up in the monastery of St. Cucuphas of the principality of Catalonia, as Yepes relates FROM OLD MONUMENTS in the Benedictine Chronicle AT THE YEAR DCCLXXVIII. But in truth, if you seek the old monuments boasted of by Bivar in Yepes himself at the year of Christ 778, you will find one praised there, the work of Antonio Vicente Domenec, a writer of the beginning of the 17th century, who although at the 6th day of October, folio 96,

verso, says that he composed the elogium of St. Faith from Bede, Usuard, Ado, St. Antoninus and other serious authors, as also from a very ancient manuscript Lectionary of the monastery of Sant Cugat, nevertheless nowhere produces even one witness for that Spanish translation as already performed in the 8th century, as Bivar insinuates, nor even designated in any way the century in which that translation had happened; so that accordingly it is not necessary to dwell longer on refuting Bivar's assertion, which rests not on old monuments, contrary to what he flatters himself, since, as is evident, it collapses plainly of itself for want of monuments that are really old.

[61] [nor long enough after, as from the manuscript Catalogue of the abbots of Sant Cugat] But, you will ask, were the relics of St. Faith not at least at some time, although much later than the 8th century, translated into that monastery of Sant Cugat, as is manifestly asserted in these words from the Hymn at Lauds which exists in the manuscript Breviary of that monastery, praised by Tamayo at this day, page 427, and by others: Now let us sing more solemnly, humbly, the Office of her whose sacred pledges we truly guard? I answer that since at the end of the copy of the Acts of St. Faith which we have from the manuscript codex of Sant Cugat I saw no mention added of the holy Martyr's body translated there, nor, however much diligence was applied, perceived the epoch of that translation or the other circumstances recorded in printed codices, I at first vehemently doubted whether the remains of our holy Virgin, and not rather of a martyr of the same name, had ever been translated into Spain to the monastery of Sant Cugat; and I judged it to be the more vehemently doubted because it was not likely that the inhabitants of Conques had been so liberal towards outsiders as to send to the Spaniards the body of St. Faith, to which their church owed all its splendour. There was, accordingly, reason why certain credence did not seem to be given to the constant Spanish tradition which Tamayo asserts without documents, by which the body of our St. Faith is reported to be preserved in the church of Sant Cugat. But when I had at length come upon the manuscript Catalogue of the abbots of the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès, which the Reverend Don Juan Bautista de Castelarnau, monk and vicar general of Sant Cugat, sent to us, and found in its Prologue, among the bodies of the Saints which are kept in this monastery, that of St. Faith also counted, having read through that entire Catalogue and another lengthy manuscript of his in which various things pertaining to that monastery are reviewed, I had at last something from which I could determine something about the relics of St. Faith translated into Spain.

[62] and from another manuscript sent from Spain it is proved, And first indeed, from a public instrument drawn up in the year of the Lord 1256, on the day before the Kalends of July, in the time of Abbot Pere de Torrecella, which the praised Don de Castelarnau presents in that lengthy manuscript, folio 8, and in which the bodies of the Saints who were known by name preserved there are enumerated, it is sufficiently manifestly concluded that at that time at least the remains of St. Faith had not yet been translated to the monastery of Sant Cugat, since no mention of them is made in that instrument, whereas the names of Saints less distinguished than she are reviewed there; so that the very ancient Lectionary of Sant Cugat which Domenec praises, by which the Spanish translation of St. Faith would be established, must entirely be said to be more recent than the year of Christ 1256, and nothing solid can be opposed from it against the epoch of the Conques translations of which we treated before. At what time, then, you will say, were the pledges of St. Faith carried into Spain? For answer to this let it be that, on the testimony of the praised Don de Castelarnau, who in the Catalogue of the Abbots of Sant Cugat cites the Manual of his monastery or other monuments both here and commonly elsewhere, the translation of the remains of St. Faith to that monastery of Sant Cugat was performed under Pere de Busquets, who, having previously been Prior and chief sacristan of the monastery, was elected abbot in the year 1351, as the same Castelarnau writes is established from folio 112 of the praised Manual. It will be helpful to have transcribed here his own words, which pertain to this abbot, the translation of St. Faith made under him, and the benefice erected in her honour by the provost of the monastery.

[63] They run thus: Pere de Busquets, by divine grace abbot (Castelarnau places him forty-fourth), elected in the year 1351, but only in the 14th century was a monk, Prior and chief sacristan; it is established in the Manual of 1356, folio 112; and he was excellently instructed from boyhood, so that he became distinguished as a doctor of Decrees, and he beautifully recompiled and reduced to order the provincial constitutions of the whole (Benedictine) Religion; and seeing that the Saracens often rose up here or there, and that there was enormous ruin and devastation in many parts of Catalonia and in very many places, villas, churches and monasteries, he therefore took care to surround and fortify the monastery from its own goods. He always used his money for the advantage and magnificence (I think "of the monastery" is to be supplied), for he bought the whole castle of El Vendrell with its jurisdiction, and also the jurisdiction of the town of Sant Cugat, from lord Peter, king of Aragon, and built at his own expense the archive of the monastery's writings. At this time, namely about the year 1365, the body of St. Faith was translated into this monastery, granted by Urban V, Roman Pontiff, where it rests in peace: under whose invocation Bernat de Valenca, monk and then chief provost, instituted a benefice from the goods of his provostship, and afterwards ended his life on the 8th of February in the year 1381. Thus far he, who indicates sufficiently in the Prologue that he is treating of the body of no other than our St. Faith, when he writes that she suffered in the city of Agen on the 6th of October about the year CCC.

[64] But although Castelarnau drew these things either from the Manual of the monastery or from other authentic documents of the same abbey, they were sent as a gift of Pope Urban V. and thus makes it credible that distinguished remains of St. Faith were sent to the monastery of Sant Cugat as a gift of Pope Urban V, I can nevertheless scarcely persuade myself that that Pontiff obtained the whole body of the holy Martyr from the monks of Conques in order to give it to the Spaniards. Nor does the word body, which he uses, entirely persuade this, since otherwise very often distinguished relics of the Saints come under this name which by no means constitute the whole body of a person. And indeed that the ascetics of Sant Cugat cannot deservedly boast of the truly whole body of St. Faith translated to them is shown even from this, that, as the Monasticon Anglicanum testifies, volume 1, page 6, one bone of St. Faith was anciently preserved with honour in the church of Glastonbury, together with the remains of other distinguished virgins, as the curious reader can see there. However, on what occasion or in what manner Urban V obtained the sacred remains of St. Faith, at least in part, from the monks of Conques, to whom even long before his Pontificate, as one born in the neighbouring county of Gévaudan and only thirteen French leagues distant from Conques, and previously abbot of the same Order, he could have been exceedingly well known and dear, as also for what cause he wished to ennoble with them the distinguished monastery of Sant Cugat in Catalonia, no documents of sufficiently approved credibility which have lighted my way relate. Perhaps this Pontiff, since he had ordered Peter of Aragon, son of king James II, to restore to the people of Montpellier the arm of St. Louis, bishop of Toulouse, with which the latter seemed to wish to enrich Catalonia, as Wadding testifies at the year 1366, wished in place of the aforesaid pledge to make Catalonia illustrious with sacred relics of St. Faith, by which he might conciliate to himself the mind of the praised Peter and bind him to himself forever. But let these things remain within the limits of conjecture. There will perhaps be, and I vehemently desire that there may be, someone who will bring greater light to this Spanish translation of St. Faith, and who of his own accord, since in these times access by letters either to Catalonia or to the Rouergue is not easy for us, will kindly inform us about it, so that these things may be inserted in a suitable place in the Commentary on St. Caprasius at the 20th day of October, God willing, and thus, if anything should have been said by us here less rightly, it may be accurately corrected.

§ VI. The celebrity of the cult of St. Faith in the church of Agen, and especially in that of Conques: various sacred buildings erected to her name in the Gauls, and one distinguished one both in Aragon and in England.

The distinguished cult of St. Faith in the church of Agen From the things which we discussed from num. 32 about the elevation or first translation of the body of St. Faith made by St. Dulcidius, and about the other translations afterwards, I judge that the antiquity of the ecclesiastical veneration shown to her both at Agen and in the monastery of Conques is so manifestly plain to everyone that it is by no means necessary to confirm it with other arguments. Wherefore, that we may pursue the things which pertain to the cult of our holy Martyr, besides what is to be said in the very Acts which we are about to edit, I shall relate in this § only those things which bear on the celebrity of the same Ecclesiastical veneration, and which clearly show that it was propagated most widely through the Christian world. And first indeed, not only was a most celebrated cult paid to the holy Martyr at Agen while the body of St. Faith was still kept there; but also, after this sacred treasure had been carried off thence in the year, as we have shown, 886 or 887, her Ecclesiastical veneration begun from the times of St. Dulcidius was by no means interrupted, as becomes entirely manifest from the ancient church which has always kept the name of the same Virgin and Martyr, and from her Ecclesiastical Office, which, as Simon de Peyronet testifies on page 478 of the Catalogue of the Saints published at Toulouse in the year 1706, is customarily celebrated every year under the double rite. There exists also in the diocese of Agen a village adjacent to the river Dropt, to which the name of St. Faith was given long ago in honour of our Virgin, and it is likewise one of the twelve archpresbyterates into which that diocese is divided, as is asserted in volume 2 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 894.

[66] I come now to the increase of the most celebrated cult of the same Martyr, and in that of Conques, by Apostolic confirmed by the Apostolic letters of Paschal II, by which this Pontiff grants to the monks of Conques that the vigil of St. Faith be celebrated with a solemn fast, that in the order of the Mass, or Canon, the name of the Martyr herself be held among the other virgins, and that out of reverence for the same Saint the abbot of Conques be always summoned to the election of the bishop of Rodez. The Pontifical Bull itself, which you have edited from the Colbert papers in volume 1 of the Anecdota of Martène and Durand, column 337 and following, it has seemed good to transcribe here entire. It runs thus: Paschal, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son in Christ Bego, abbot of the monastery of blessed Faith of Conques, and to all the brethren of the same place, greeting and Apostolic benediction. Although the tenor of the Ecclesiastical Offices is held established in lawful order in the Ecclesiastical books; nothing however (hinders) religion by excessive *

we believe it profits very greatly, if anyone reasonably adds something of observance and devotion to the same Offices. For our Samaritan, when he brought forth two pence to the innkeeper for the care of the sick man, said: "Whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come again, will repay thee."

[67] In the district of Rodez, therefore, especially at your monastery of Conques, by the letters of Pope Paschal II where the body of blessed Faith is believed to rest, before the second day before the Nones of October, on which the same Virgin is read to have consummated her martyrdom, as we have heard that you most devoutly keep vigils according to custom, we assent that a solemn fast also be celebrated, and we confirm it by the authority of the present decree: for where blessed martyrs rest by their bodily presence, it is assuredly worthy, and confirmed by Ecclesiastical custom, that they be honoured with more solemn Offices. Whence also we grant that in the Order of the Mass the memory of the same holy Virgin and Martyr be celebrated by name among the other virgins; the Passion also, or miracles, which are believed to have been written about the same holy Virgin by Catholic men, we approve in the church for the reverence of the same Virgin; since indeed we desire the birthday of the glorious Virgin and Martyr herself to be celebrated with great devotion and reverence, both in our most holy Roman Church and in other parts of the world, to the honour of God and the common salvation.

[68] For the devotion also of the aforesaid Martyr and the honour of the monastery of Conques we add confirmed and enlarged, that the abbot of Conques must always be summoned to the election of the bishop of Rodez: because both in the city itself the election is commonly presumed to be made outside of order, and the place of Conques is held to be so near the city, and the person of the abbot is esteemed so great, that he ought especially to be present at so great a business of the church. The other affairs of your monastery, as pertaining more specially to us, we order to be settled with more care by our legates, whether those who are now, or those who shall be hereafter, in the Gauls. For we will that your monastery and all things pertaining to it remain always quiet, free and whole with their privileges. May almighty God bless you with His grace, and through the perseverance of holy conversation lead you to eternal life. Amen. Given at the Lateran, on the ninth day before the Kalends of January. Thus far the Pontifical Bull of Paschal II, on which it will help to have observed some things. In the praised Martène and Durand, chronological notes from which you might at once define the year of this Pontifical diploma are entirely lacking; there is however something from elsewhere whereby it can be placed fairly closely. For since Bego, abbot of Conques, obtained it from Pope Paschal II, and he did not prolong his life beyond the year of Christ 1107, as is elicited from his successor Boniface, recorded in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 245, at the same year, it follows that this Bull was granted to the monks of Conques in the time between this and the year 1099, which was the first of Paschal's Pontificate, and that afterwards the name of St. Faith was lawfully recited by them in the Canon of the Mass together with the names of the Apostles and of the more distinguished Saints; which indeed, even if other things were absent, is a most certain proof of an exceptional cult.

[69] as also the Pontifical diploma of Pope Innocent IV But since we have now come to the cult of the holy Martyr confirmed by Pontifical authority and enlarged in no common manner, I wish to recite here also that Pontifical diploma by which Pope Innocent IV in the year 1245, in honour of St. Faith, granted to Umbert, abbot of the church of Conques, and his successors, the use of the mitre and ring. It runs thus in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana among the instruments of the church of Rodez, page 55: Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son Umbert, abbot of St. Faith of Conques, of the Order of St. Benedict, of the diocese of Rodez, greeting and Apostolic benediction. Trusting to be helped by the prayers and patronage of the Saints before the tribunal of the almighty and eternal Judge, and therefore to be feared by all, we ask indeed to please them, we earnestly entreat from the marrow their benevolence, and that we may be able deservedly to win their favour, we gladly impart graces, from the power conferred on us from heaven, to the ministers of the places which are ascribed to their titles, fortifying some with privileges, enlarging others with honours and boundaries, adorning others also with insignia, as the requirement of the excellence of any Saint and of the place endowed with him becomes known to us. Hence it is that, the glorious merits having been set forth to us of blessed Faith, virgin and martyr, over whose monastery you preside, who is said to have so shone with the virtue of faith, to have held her faith so constantly, never changing it from the Lord, that for the love of Him, the flower of virginity being preserved, in whom she believed, whom she loved, roasted and cut, she reddened her whole body with her own blood. Whence, as is piously to be believed, she was surnamed from the very word faith and therefore called Faith.

[70] is set out. We, for reverence of her, taking occasion from the fellowship of the name, for the furtherance of piety, have thought fit to adorn her aforesaid monastery with the mitre and ring, which are the insignia of faith, for a mystical reason. For as the mitre adorns the head of the wearer, so assuredly does faith the mind, which, while it works through love, according to the word of the Apostle, as with two horns, namely the love of God and of neighbour, tosses the enemy. The ring also is the seal of faith, by which the faithful soul is espoused to the Lord; which consists of gold and a gem, and encircles that finger from which a vein is said to be sent to the heart; in which it seems to be noted that faith, when it encircles and adorns the heart of the faithful, makes him both vigorous in action and learned in wisdom. In the encircling of the finger discretion also is commended, and it designates also by its roundness that he should refer all that he does to obtaining eternal beatitude. We therefore grant to you and your successors the power of using these precious insignia in perpetuity, for devotion to the said Virgin. Let it therefore be lawful to no man at all to infringe this page of our grant or to go against it with rash daring. But if anyone should presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of almighty God and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Lyons on the 6th day before the Nones of October, in the third year of our Pontificate; and thus in the year of Christ 1245, and a little before Innocent went from Lyons, where he had celebrated a council, to Cluny, as may be seen in Francesco Pagi, volume 3 of the Breviarium of the Roman Pontiffs, pages 301 and 309.

[71] And let these things suffice to be said concerning the cult of St. Faith at Conques, established by Apostolic authority and not moderately enlarged. Besides various donations in her honour, and erections of churches in the Gauls I proceed now to other distinguished proofs of the veneration shown to the holy Martyr commonly in the Gauls, which, lest I be endless in illustrating each, I shall indicate only in a few words. Besides the donations made in honour of St. Faith by Sigualdus in the year of Christ 888, by Stephen, bishop of Auvergne and at the same time abbot of Conques, and by others afterwards, of which we have already treated before, and besides many other grants of goods and churches made, which are recorded in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana from column 240, and in the Instrumenta of the church of Rodez, and in volume 2 of the History of the House of Auvergne written by Baluze, pages 36, 37, 483, 484 and other places, and in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc among the Instrumenta, columns 6, 21, 112, 160, 161, 217 and elsewhere, and from which you may easily gather how great a devotion and veneration towards St. Faith was settled in men of all orders; besides all these, I say, not a few churches were erected in her honour in the Gauls, whether before the 11th century or thereafter; which whoever desires to know will find designated by name in the praised volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana from column 241, and volume 2 of the Benedictine Annals, page 401, num. 2 towards the end, not only in the diocese of Rodez, but also in that of Agde in Languedoc, in that of Meaux, which is of the Pays de Brie, in that of Narbonne, in that of Toulouse, and in other dioceses; to which I add by name from volume 3 of the Monasticon Anglicanum, page 111, the church of St. Faith of Longueville in Normandy, which Valois also calls the Old in the Notitia Galliarum, to which afterwards Walter Giffard, earl of Buckingham, granted very many goods, as is abundantly clear from the diploma edited there. And let these things suffice as some sort of specimen of the cult of St. Faith excellently diffused far and wide through the Gauls.

[72] Nor did that devotion towards St. Faith and the ardour of the magnates in erecting churches to her name confine itself within the bounds of Gaul, one distinguished one, which in Aragon since, to pass over less illustrious ones, already in the year of Christ 1101 a monastery was founded in honour of St. Faith by Pedro Sánchez, king of the Aragonese, at Barbastro, a town of his kingdom, so that that king might render due thanks for the victory against the Moors granted him by God, and that through the merit of the glorious Virgin herself (St. Faith) his kingdom might be kept safe and unharmed, and he himself might be able to vanquish his enemies thereafter also. The diploma from which these things are clearly established I shall not, lest I be too long, copy entire; but only those words of it which bear most on our matter. Its beginning runs thus in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana among the Instrumenta of the church of Rodez, page 54, column 2: In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, this is the firm and ratified testament which I, Pedro Sánchez, by the grace of God king of the Aragonese and Pamplonese, make concerning the establishing and ordering of the church of St. Faith, the glorious virgin, at the city of Barbastro, with the affirmation and authority of lord Pons, venerable bishop of that see, and of his clerics. For immense mercies we owe manifold acts of thanksgiving to God, who in our times, a victory having been conferred from heaven, has given us the ability of helping His holy Church, and of endowing certain places and monasteries of our Religious from lands long held by the Moors. Whence among other things let it be known both to present and to future faithful of God, that I, before the city of Barbastro was restored to holy Christianity, gave to the holy Saviour and to St. Faith of Conques, and to Bego, venerable abbot, and to the monks of the same place, one mechita, namely the better one, (that is, one of the more excellent temples of the Mahometans, which are called Mezquitas in Spanish and Mosquées in French) which was in Barbastro, except that of the episcopal see, for building a monastery there…

[73] was made, is reviewed, And after some things the king proceeds thus: In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand one hundred and one, Barbastro having been taken, … with the counsel and affirmation of lord Pons … we ordered the monastic church of St. Faith, after many examinations, peacefully in such a way that, namely, from my own lands and vineyards … the tithes and first-fruits be paid most wholly to the church of St. Faith… Moreover we give to St. Faith, the glorious virgin, the mills with their aqueduct; and the gardens at the gate itself with the baths and the oven, which had belonged to the mechita itself. We grant also, with the assent and favour of the aforesaid bishop and his clerics, the church of Allinces with all ecclesiastical things to

it pertaining by right. All these things written above to the Lord God and to St. Faith, praising and confirming them, that God Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the merit of the glorious Virgin herself, may keep our kingdom safe and unharmed, and, destroying the enemies of peace, may enlarge it to the honour and glory of His name; and so may He make us and all our progeny pass through temporal goods serving Him, that after the course of this life He may lead us to eternal glory. And if God should also give to us or to our posterity Lleida and Saragossa, we give there to blessed Faith the inheritance of one Moor of the better sort, namely houses, lands and vineyards, gardens with all their appurtenances, that God Himself, through her merit, may restore those cities to holy Christianity. Amen.

[74] and another in England by Robert, son of Walter, If we pass from Spain into England, we shall there likewise find distinguished proofs of the cult of St. Faith. Let one stand for the rest: the foundation of the priory of Horsham in the county of Norfolk, made in honour of our holy Martyr by Robert Fitz-Walter, or son of Walter, and his wife Sibyl, whose diploma on this matter I have chosen to transcribe here from volume 1 of the Monasticon Anglicanum, pages 415 and 416. It sounds thus: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We wish it to be made known to all the faithful of Christ, both present and future, that I, Robert, son of Walter, and my wife, by name Sibyl, have built the church of Horsham on our own land, in honour of God and of St. Faith, virgin and martyr, for the remedy and salvation of our souls and of our sons and of all the faithful living or dead. We grant the same church to God and to the monks of Conques, of the church of St. Faith, virgin and martyr. And to this church built by us we grant the church of Horsford, the church of Reydon, the church of Mor, for keeping the anniversary of Sibyl my wife; the tithe of Alreton, and of Wibetone, and of Wilverdeston, and of Helmingham, and of Flemeworth, and of Woodetone, and of Semer, and of Bikebrom, and of Resham, and of Forle, and of Walingo, and of Shanton, and of Surlingham, and of Stokes, and of Hertham, and of Hoa, and from each manor one acre of land for gathering the tithe. And I grant from all my procurements which I shall make in England the tithes always to this church.

[75] Know moreover that the aforesaid Sibyl granted to the same her land of Rudham, and by Sibyl his wife, which her father gave in free marriage. Know moreover that I, Robert, son of Walter, with Sibyl my wife, Roger and my other sons willing and cooperating in this good, have granted and given the aforesaid church of Horsham and all the things mentioned above to God and to blessed Faith and to Conques and to its monks, that by God, the blessed Virgin herself (St. Faith) interceding, pardon of our sins may be given us, and we may attain those joys which He promised to His faithful, which neither eye has seen nor ear heard. This charter was made with the permission and affirmation of the lord Henry, king of the English, and with the ordination and consent of Bishop Herbert. But if anyone of my kin or succession, or anyone else, should wish to hinder this donation, let him know that he is contrary to God and to His Saints, and to the king of the English, and is not a Christian but an antichrist. Thus far the praised diploma, issued not later than the year 1107, to which in the year of Christ 1163 was added the Pontifical Bull of Pope Alexander III, by which he determined that both the aforesaid grant of goods and the others made, and those to be justly made thereafter, are to be held firm and inviolate, and took the monastery of St. Faith of Horsham itself under the protection of blessed Peter and his own. The curious reader can see it entire in the cited volume 1 of the Monasticon Anglicanum, page 416, where it is asserted to have been printed from the very autograph of the Cotton library.

[76] However, whether in fact a distinguished miracle worked by St. Faith gave Robert and Sibyl the occasion of erecting the monastery of Horsham to this holy Martyr, to which a miracle worked by St. Faith is reported to have given occasion. as indeed is narrated from an old parchment written in English in volume 1 of the Monasticon Anglicanum, page 414, the deepest silence of both spouses about so distinguished a benefit shown them, in the very diploma of foundation, makes me somewhat doubtful; and also that in the Pontifical Bull which is subjoined there for its confirmation, likewise no mention is made of that prodigy. Since however miracles of the same kind worked by St. Faith, and the plainly distinguished munificence of Robert and Sibyl towards the holy Martyr, render it likely from elsewhere, I shall subjoin here some sort of epitome of it. Robert and Sibyl, returning to their country from a pilgrimage undertaken to the threshold of the Apostles and afterwards to the shrine of St. Giles in Languedoc, had fallen into the hands of robbers, and, bound with iron chains, were being held in a certain castle, when the pious spouses suppliantly implored the help and succour of St. Faith, whose miracles were celebrated everywhere, that it might be permitted them to depart free to their country. The most loving Martyr was present to the prayers of those who asked, and appearing to them, loosed the iron chains and led them safe out of custody. Wherefore, having set out for Conques, they spent some days there in rendering thanks to St. Faith, and carried there with them the very chains with which they had been bound, in testimony of the thing done, and made a vow of founding a monastery in honour of St. Faith on their lands. That they might better fulfil this for the good of the monastic commonwealth, they afterwards brought with them into England from the monastery of Conques the monks Bernard and Gerard, who should look after the new colony, and in the name of the monastery of Conques should enter into possession of the new priory to be founded and of its goods.

[77] Various things pertaining to this church of St. Faith Singular likewise, and also conducive to elucidating the epoch of the foundation of this priory, are the things which the already often praised Denis de Sainte-Marthe writes in volume 1 of the Gallia Christiana, column 245, in these words: Henry (namely the I of this name), king of the English, staying in Normandy in the Forest above Bonneville, confirmed to abbot Boniface (who, as the enlarged Gallia Christiana also testifies in the same place, presided over the monks of Conques in the year of Christ 1107) the privilege which he had granted to St. Faith of Horsans (or rather of Horsham), namely a feria each year of three days, on the vigil of the feast of the same Virgin, on the day of the feast, and on the second day of the feast. This church of Horsans Herbert, bishop of Norwich (on whom see Alford, volume 4 of the Annals of the English Church, at the year of Christ 1093, num. 40, and at the year 1101, num. 38), had consecrated in honour of St. Mary the Virgin and of St. Faith, and Eberard (or Evrard, on whom consult the same Alford at the year 1119, num. 19, and at the year 1121, num. 7), his successor in the see of Norwich, confirmed this same church to abbot Boniface, and granted indulgences to those visiting it, with a liberality assuredly not common among bishops of that time, and from which you may not undeservedly elicit a special piety of the English towards the holy Martyr. However, whether by the word Feria, which the praised Sainte-Marthe drew undoubtedly from the old instrument which had lighted his way, he wished to indicate a three-day festival in honour of St. Faith, in which sense that word is not rarely used; or rather a three-day fair, which, as Du Cange testifies in the Lexicon, often come under the name of Feriae, and were further so called because for the most part they were instituted on the festivals of the holy Patrons or on the encaenia and dedications of churches, since namely there is then a frequent concourse of the neighbouring peoples to them, he himself did not think it sufficiently to be declared, either in the cited column or in his Glossary of words of the more corrupt Latinity, added at the end of the volume. Since however, as it seems, the royal confirmation of Henry I was needed rather for holding fairs than for celebrating feast days, I judge that τὸ Feria is more rightly explained of those than of a three-day feast.

[78] and pertaining to her celebrated cult. Besides this, and another church erected long ago to St. Faith in England, of which William Dugdale also makes mention in the History of the cathedral church of London, pages 232 and 273, I do not doubt that others also in other regions, in which the cult of our holy Martyr has long flourished, were consecrated to God under her invocation; but there is no leisure to inquire more laboriously into their site, nor does it seem worth so troublesome a labour to enumerate the several buildings dedicated to St. Faith throughout the Christian world. It will suffice to have indicated one more, which has long been sacred to her at Piacenza in Italy, of which Pietro Maria Campi made mention in the Life of St. Franca, page 67, and which is reviewed by Umberto Locati in the book on the origin of the city of Piacenza, volume 3 of the Thesaurus of the Histories of Italy, part 2, column 96, and by our Papebroch in volume 3 of April, page 399, in the Annotations. These things indeed most openly demonstrate that no moderate veneration of the Faithful towards St. Faith had long since been spread most widely. The remaining things which bear on the celebrity of her cult I go to complete in the following §.

* read "immo"

§ VII. St. Faith venerated with an Ecclesiastical Office proper to her in various regions. The author of the Codex of her miracles, to be edited below, and his credibility, and why not all the miracles are to be edited.

For the rest, from the old Missal of Rouen Besides very many places of the province and diocese of Toulouse, and of all Gaul, which, as Simon de Peyronet testifies in his Catalogue of the Saints, page 478, have their name from our St. Faith and venerate her as their tutelary, there are so many churches in the Gauls which have long venerated the holy Martyr either with a solemn commemoration in the Sacrifice of the Mass or with a Canonical Office, that, if I were to put forward even very little about each, I should be endless. Wherefore by way of specimen I shall describe here only one in place of the rest, the proper Mass of St. Faith which exists in the Missal of Rouen published in the year 1585. Thus, at folio 49, it runs: The feast of St. Faith, virgin and martyr, of three lessons. The Office (namely of the Mass). I know, O Lord, that Thy judgements are equity, and in Thy truth Thou hast humbled me; pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear, repel me not from Thy commandments. Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Prayer. We beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that the festival this day of blessed Faith, Thy virgin and martyr, may afford us an increase of salvation: whose admirable life affords a salutary example. Through our Lord. Epistle. O Lord my God, Thou hast exalted. Gradual. With Thy comeliness and Thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously and reign. Verse. Because of truth and meekness

and justice, and Thy right hand shall lead Thee wonderfully. Alleluia. Verse. After her shall virgins be brought to the king, her neighbours shall be brought to Thee in gladness. Gospel. The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten. Offertory. After her shall virgins be offered to the king, her neighbours: they shall be offered to Thee.

[80] Secret. O God, who art ever glorious in Thy Saints, a proper Mass, who, that Thou mayest confound the strong things of the world, showest the virtue of Thy power in the least also: receive this oblation which we offer Thee for the commemoration of St. Faith, Thy virgin and martyr: and grant that her prayer may help us with Thee, whose holy life and glorious passion pleased Thee. Through our Lord. Communion. I have done judgement and justice, O Lord; let not the proud calumniate me; I was directed to all Thy commandments; I have hated every way of iniquity. Postcommunion. May the partaking of this Sacrament profit us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and may the glorious intercession of blessed Faith, Thy virgin and martyr, raise us up before Thee. Through our Lord. Thus far the praised Missal of Rouen; to which I wish to subjoin from the Breviary of Meaux, published in the year 1640, the proper Lessons of the Canonical Office, and that because these are a compendium of the Acts which we are about to edit, and also the Responsories of each, so that from them the reader may have some sort of knowledge of the cult paid to St. Faith in the Canonical Office.

[81] They are conceived in these words at page 748, at the 6th day of October: Lesson IV. Faith, born at Agen in Aquitaine of most illustrious parents, vowed her virginity to Christ from her tender years, and after some years ennobled it by the shedding of her own blood: and from the Breviary of Meaux the Lessons for when Maximian was raging against the Christians, and the governor Dacian had come to Agen to serve the impious cruelty of the emperor, the name of Faith (as being a Christian) was at once reported to the governor. When she learned of this, and perceived that the attendants were pressing on, having prayed for the help of her Bridegroom and armed with the sign of the cross, she went intrepid to meet them. Thus far the first Lesson of the second Nocturn, to which this Responsory is subjoined: Thou shalt not be among the foolish virgins, saith the Lord, but thou shalt be among the prudent virgins, receiving the oil of gladness with their lamps. * Going to meet, they went to meet the Bridegroom with the palm of virginity. ℣. But coming they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves. Going to meet.

[82] proper to her Lesson V. Dacian tried first by blandishments, afterwards by threats, to draw her away from the worship of the true God, proposing Diana, to whom she should sacrifice. But those temptations drew forth a more glorious confession. She affirmed, namely, that it was in her mind to suffer any torments for Christ and to undergo death in His confession. Wherefore the angered governor throws the Virgin onto an iron grate, binds her with iron chains, stretches her into four parts, and puts fire beneath with fat: an atrocious punishment surely for tender limbs. Yet Faith is not conquered, but by divine power, though she suffered, she is not harmed. After these things, in what manner they are to be understood we shall say in the Annotations, page 289, there follows a Responsory in these words: The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, * went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride. ℣. But the prudent virgins took oil in their vessels with the lamps.

[83] are presented, Lesson VI. Very many, having admired the unconquered spirit of the Virgin, ceased to worship earthen gods, believing in one God, and refused to burn incense to the idols offered them; therefore, sentence having been passed against them, they were beheaded together with blessed Faith. And their bodies were buried at Agen in one tomb, and thence after a long time having been raised, were placed in a basilica constructed under the title of St. Faith, as chief patroness of the people of Agen. To these is subjoined this Responsory: This is a wise virgin, whom the Lord found watching, who, having taken her lamp, took oil with her, * and, when the Lord came, went in with Him to the marriage. ℣. Having found a good pearl, she gave all that she had and bought it. And when the Lord came. Glory be to the Father. And when the Lord came. Then for the third Nocturn there are assigned a Homily on the Gospel: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, and Responsories from the common of virgins, from which also the psalms of the Nocturns and the rest are prescribed to be taken. It is likewise not necessary to transcribe here the Prayer, which in this Breviary is from the common of a virgin and martyr, and which begins: Grant us indulgence, we beseech Thee, O Lord, etc. However, whether the bodies of St. Faith's Companions are not rather to be said to have been honourably placed by St. Dulcidius in the basilica of St. Caprasius than in that of St. Faith, see what was disputed from num. 33.

[84] and from the manuscript Breviary of Sant Cugat the Hymns at Vespers, The Hymns which in the Offices of the churches of Gaul seem to have been taken for St. Faith from the common of Virgins and Martyrs are, in the Office which the monks of Sant Cugat in Spain were accustomed to recite from a manuscript Breviary, proper in every part, and therefore I attach them to the proper Mass and the proper Gallican Lessons. Thus the Hymn at Vespers runs:

The day of gladness is at hand, And the joy of holy Faith, Whom the King of glory called To the highest reward of heaven.

This is the most holy Virgin Of the number of the prudent, Holy Faith, most illustrious Among the choirs of the rejoicing.

Faith shone forth in martyrdom, Keeping her virgin body, With desire of salvation Longing for the ethereal kingdom.

O Faith, excellent Virgin, Pray the Lord for us, That He may give through thy merits The full joy of the heavens.

Glory to the Father, the Lord, To the Son and to the Paraclete, Who may give us life without end On the throne of heaven. Amen.

At Matins let us sing The praises of holy Faith, Let us praise the Son of God, Who may give us heavenly things.

Rejoice, O city of Agen, Keep the memory of Faith, Whom sanctity has adorned On account of her victory.

Let us praise so great a Virgin, And also her martyrdom, That to the beatitude Of the heavenly ones we may come.

Let us all sing today The memory of holy Faith, Whom the King of glory called To the glory of paradise.

At the Lauds of this Virgin Let us all sing sweetly, That to the fruit of sweetness We may come with eagerness.

With clear voice let us sing The victory of holy Faith, Let us praise the Almighty Through the constancy of faith.

Let the present assembly rejoice Over holy Faith the virgin, Who rejoices on the throne of heaven, Shining with heavenly light.

Now let us sing more solemnly, Humbly, the Office Of her whose sacred pledges We truly guard.

[87] But as regards cult of this kind which St. Faith once enjoyed in England, and the rest are touched on, from which the extent of her cult is plain. the Breviary according to the use of the church of Sarum, which Thierry Martens of Aalst printed at Louvain in the year of Christ 1499, testifies that, besides the prayer conceived in these words: O God, who makest the present day solemn by the martyrdom of blessed Faith, virgin, grant to Thy church that it may be helped by the prayers of her by whose merit it glories, three Lessons proper to St. Faith, which I purposely do not describe here, were once recited in her Ecclesiastical Office. Nay rather, even after the lamentable schism of England, the name of our holy Martyr was kept in the Calendar of the Anglican liturgy, as Baillet writes at this day, page 94, and it is clear from the historical Commentary on the Roman Breviary published by the author J. Grancolas, where on page 25 the name of St. Faith is placed in the middle between St. Remigius and St. Denis. I forbear to enumerate the other Calendars, whether English, Belgian or German, and other very ancient ones, from which no one can fail to perceive that in those regions the cult of St. Faith was once celebrated both in the Sacrifice of the Mass and in other Ecclesiastical Offices, and in some is to this day.

[88] The Codex of the miracles of St. Faith not an anonymous writer, It remains that we discourse here somewhat about the Codex of the Miracles of St. Faith, which we shall edit after the Acts of her Martyrdom and Translations. This, copied from an old manuscript Codex of the Chifflet library of Besançon and sent to him by the Reverend Father Pierre-François Chifflet, S.J., theologian, Philippe Labbe, S.J., likewise a theologian, first of all made public in volume 2 of the New Library of Manuscripts from page 531; and since the Prologue of Bernard or Barnard, master of the school of Angers, which exists in our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden, and in the Chartres manuscript Codex praised by Mabillon in volume 4 of the Benedictine Annals, was lacking in the Chifflet Codex, Labbe called the author of the whole work anonymous, but ancient, and one who is perceived from his history to have lived in the eleventh century after Christ. And this indeed Labbe determined entirely rightly, as will also be plain more openly from what is to be said; but that the author of the Book of Miracles of St. Faith is not anonymous, but the Bernard mentioned before, whose the Prologue of the work truly is, master of the school of Angers, Alberic testifies in his Chronicle at the year 894 in these words: To St. Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, Bernard, scholastic of Angers (they call him écolâtre in French), issued the Little Book of the Miracles of St. Faith of Conques, who suffered at Agen under the impious Dacian with blessed Caprasius; but more probably on a different day, as we have shown at num. 21, which accordingly you may consult.

[89] but Bernard, master of the school of Angers, To the testimony of Alberic, that it may be entirely clear that the praised Bernard is the author of the aforesaid work, I add its very title, conceived in these words in our copy of the manuscript Codex of the Queen of Sweden: Here begins the Book of the Miracles of St. Faith, virgin and martyr, issued by Barnard, master of the school of Angers; with which that found in the Chartres codex mentioned agrees almost word for word, and which Mabillon reviews in the cited volume of the Benedictine Annals, page 214, at the year of Christ 1010, num. 42, where the praised Annalist also sets out both to whom Bernard dedicated this book and what occasion was given for writing it; but let us hear Bernard himself saying these things: To the most holy, he says, and most learned of men Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, Barnard, least of scholastics, the gift of the highest beatitude. When some time ago I was enjoying your sincere companionship at Chartres, it happened rather often that, either for the sake of writing or of praying, I went to the little church of St. Faith the martyr which is situated outside the walls of that city. Concerning which I remember that we once, amid the talk of conversation, fell into mention of St. Faith and her miracles, which are continually worked by the gift of almighty Christ at the place of the monastery of Conques, where her most sacred body is venerably honoured. These, because partly they seemed to be celebrated by the report of common folk, and partly were held unheard of, were rejected from belief no otherwise than as the inventions of an empty tale. And yet since what was true could not, by the will of God, be silent *, and the opinion of the truth

was already running through almost all Europe, there gradually came into my heart a silent thought, impatient of oblivion, that I should go to the very dwelling-place of the holy Martyr with the same zeal for learning. At last the matter came to this point, that I noted in a pocket notebook the time and day of the vow made thence, lest it be given over to oblivion.

[90] Thus far Bernard, who at length, after a three-year period had passed, partly composed in the year 1020, in which he had waited in vain for an opportune occasion of going to Conques, betook himself there for the first time, both to inquire carefully in person about the virtues or miracles of St. Faith, and to commit to writing only those prodigies whose witnesses he had at hand, and which he had most certainly understood to be true, as he himself sets out in the same Prologue. Nor did he set out to Conques for that purpose only once and twice, as the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 7, pages 308 and 309, will have it, but Bernard affirms that he did it a third time, in our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden, chapter 15, in these words: In the year therefore from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand and twenty, in the third Indiction, moved as much by the love of St. Faith as by the desire of seeing again the enlightened Witbert (namely him whom he had mentioned at the beginning of his work), I made my way back to Conques for the third time. From which words we also have defined the very time earlier than which this work of his was not completed. But whether, as Mabillon in the Benedictine Annals in the place cited and the writers of the Histoire littéraire, page 309, write, Bernard first set hand to the work about the year of Christ 1010 or 1012, I cannot exactly define. This however is certain from Bernard's words, that between his first journey to the monastery of Conques and the second there were intervals of some years, as he himself testifies in chapter 13 of our praised copy; and that between this and the third journey to Conques, which he made in the year of Christ 1020, at least a year and a half flowed between, as he also insinuates there in chapter 14. And so, although not entirely beyond doubt, it is certainly very probable that Bernard at least did not begin to write his work on the miracles of St. Faith before the year 1010, which he afterwards dedicated, a Prologue having been written, as we said before, to Fulbert, who held the see of Chartres from the year of Christ 1007 up to 1027 or 1029 with the highest reputation for learning and sanctity.

[91] That that work of Bernard was divided into three books and divided into three books; becomes beyond doubt both from a certain Fragment of the third book, which the writers of the History of Languedoc produce in volume 2 among the Instrumenta, column 6, and most of all from the very words of Bernard which exist in our copy already praised more than once, chapter 16. For there, when Bernard had said before that he had made his way back to Conques for the third time, he writes thus: But after these things, the solemn celebration of prayers having been duly completed, as I wished to return straightway (from the monastery of Conques to Angers), they (the monks of Conques) began insistently to importune and beseech me to add a third book of the miracles of St. Faith; which he in fact wrote is clear from the various miracles worked by the patronage of St. Faith which he narrates afterwards. However, how many chapters each of his books contained is not easy for me to say, both because Bernard himself nowhere indicates it, and because his whole work, in the order in which it was composed by him, has not yet come out in public. That it was much fuller than the Labbe edition and our copy of the codex of the Queen of Sweden display is indicated by the fact that in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc, from the manuscript History of the County and Counts of Rodez by Bonal, judge of the mountain districts in the Rouergue, chapter 30 of book 1 is praised, which in the Labbe edition and in our copy is only the eighth.

[92] but not all the things which are commonly put about under his name But were each and all the miracles which are related both in our copy of the praised manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden and in the Labbe edition were really written by him. in fact written by Bernard, and dedicated to Fulbert, the most learned bishop of the Gauls of his time? I answer that in my judgement there are some things in our copy which would with better right be ascribed to some monk of Conques than to the master of the school of Angers; and that in the Labbe edition also there are things which cannot more probably be adjudged to Bernard. As regards the former, the writer of the chapter which in our copy is the twenty-third, and treats of a girl freed from a demon by the merits of St. Faith, uses here and there words of such a kind that he betrays himself not obscurely as a monk of Conques; for of that girl, who had been brought to the monastery of Conques, he speaks thus: She was brought all the way to US, to seek the suffrages of OUR Virgin; and a little after: It is proclaimed by US that she was restored to health by the intervention of St. Faith. Finally he concludes that chapter thus: Who also, while I write, I do not doubt is staying IN OUR VILLAGE. Which words indeed, unless I am vehemently mistaken, no one will attribute to the master of the school of Angers; and in chap. 24, after he had woven a fairly lengthy discourse about a soldier wounded by an arrow and healed through St. Faith, the same writer, as appears, who wrote the preceding chapter, adds these things: What need of words? He (the soldier) is at once restored to health, the road to Conques is taken, coming all the way to US he rejoices, it is related to US by the same man himself; which also indicate rather a monk writing in his own name and that of his colleagues than Bernard, teacher of the school of Angers, especially since the latter commonly speaks of himself in the singular, as they call it, number, and is accustomed to call the monastery of Conques not his own, but the monastery of St. Faith. Moreover, since chapter 22 of our copy also, in my judgement at least, does not sufficiently savour of Bernard's style, and presents, contrary to this writer's custom, an involved narrative not well coherent with itself, it seems to me much more probable that this likewise was neither written by him nor dedicated to Fulbert.

[93] I proceed now, to omit the rest, of which there will be discussion in our Annotations, to that unusual miracle which is related in chapter 21 of the Labbe edition. This Tillemont, the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France and others not only ascribe to Bernard, but insinuate that on account of it the other prodigies which he recounts may be called into suspicion of falsity. I on the contrary (let the reader judge which of us thinks more rightly here) assert that it can be asserted on no foundation to have been written by Bernard, and thus that both the Labbe edition and even the Chartres Codex of Miracles praised above, if this too contains that miracle, are not purely and simply the work of Bernard, and that accordingly into the three books of Miracles written by Bernard some things were intruded by I know not what men of less keen discernment, which not a little harm the authority of Bernard. I prove my assertion thus: Bernard in his Prologue to Bishop Fulbert writes that he put into writing only those miracles of St. Faith which are not older than his own age, and whose witnesses at hand drew out not a fabulous but a most evident truth. And so, if chapter 21 of the Labbe edition has Bernard as its author, it becomes necessary that Rodbert, or Robert, abbot of the monastery of Chanteuges, who is there called as public witness of the prodigy, was still among the living. But yet, if we determine this chapter 21 to have been written in the year 1020, nay even, to be liberal, in the year 1010, it cannot be, or at least is by no means credible, that that Robert could then have been called as witness, inasmuch as even in the year of Christ 1010 he would have been not only SUFFICIENTLY honourable with reverend grey hair, as he is called there, but far more than a hundred years old, since already from the year 945 he had been set over the monastery of Chanteuges by Stephen II, bishop of Clermont, after he had already before, a man mature in age, been abbot or provost of Brioude, as may be seen in volume XI of d'Achery's Spicilegium, first edition, page 285, from the diploma of foundation, and in Mabillon in the Benedictine Annals at the year of Christ 945, num. 79. Therefore it can be said that that chapter 21, containing that prodigy, has with no appearance of truth as its author Bernard, who wished to write only things done in his own age and whose witnesses were at hand. Add to these that the author of this chapter, by his manner of speaking, sufficiently betrays that he speaks in his own name and that of his colleagues, as we said above of another, so that it could not rashly be asserted, even on this head, that he is different from Bernard.

[94] But, you will say, to what end are these things disputed so diffusely? Why not all the miracles of St. Faith are to be edited by us. I answer: to give the reason why I judged that not all the miracles which are related both in our copy and in the Labbe edition should be reprinted here, and why I have made a selection of those whose credibility would be greater, both from the authority of Bernard himself and from the relation of the witnesses whom he here praises. However, even among these there are some to which, unless we knew that God is wonderful in His Saints and in all His works, and unless they had here been committed to memory by a learned priest endowed with ecclesiastical dignity, we should not give so entire, much less so ready, a belief. Have now the very Acts of the Martyrdom of St. Faith: to which I shall afterwards subjoin the documents of the Translations of her body, and to these the three books of Miracles, divided into chapters after our custom, with the numbers of the old chapters of our copy set in the margin, at least in part, and I shall illustrate them with Annotations.

* or "be kept silent"?

ACTS,

By an anonymous author, exceedingly ancient,

From the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden, marked 863.

Faith, virgin and martyr, at Agen in Aquitaine. (S.) The companion martyrs, at Agen in Aquitaine. BHL Number: 2928

By an anonymous author.

St. Faith, still a young virgin, Holy ^b Faith, then, was a native of the city of the people of Agen ^c, and, a most splendid offspring begotten of most illustrious parents, a nursling of that very place in her birth, she became its patroness in the death of her passion; noble also from the ancient and generous stock of her parents, but made nobler by the gift of Christ, she, clothed with the white stole of virginity, shining with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, gave forth an odour of sweetness. For she was the first in the city of Agen ^d to be the glory and example of great martyrdom to all the faithful of Christ; for she willed to lose the temporal life that she might possess the eternal, because from the very cradle of infancy she loved the Lord Jesus Christ and (confessed) Him to be her God and author . She was indeed young in age at the time of her passion ^e, but in mind and deed she remained old; she was fair of face, but fairer in mind; most beautiful also with the whiteness of virginity, and serene with cheerfulness of countenance.

[2] summoned by the governor Dacian, and prepared for martyrdom, When therefore at that same time a most wicked governor, by name Datianus, sent by the profane emperors Diocletian or Maximian, who then seemed to rule the primacy of the Roman citadel ^f, was entering the city of Agen, instigated by guile

of the devil, in order to reward the sacrilegious with benefits ^g, and to inflict most atrocious punishments on the Christians who were lying hidden there out of fear of him, he at once commanded the most blessed virgin Faith to be summoned and ordered her to be brought into his sight. But she, offering herself of her own accord to the officers ^h, and fortifying her body on every side with the sign of the holy Cross ⁱ, prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, who always help Thine own in all things, be present now to Thy handmaid, and give my mouth an acceptable speech, which I may answer in the sight of this tyrant; and armed with the standard of the holy cross on brow, mouth and breast, strengthened by the holy spirit, she went on with a cheerful mind.

[3] [undaunted she confesses Christ, and despises the blandishments and anger of the governor;] And when she stood before the governor, he said to her with smooth speech: What is the word of your name? To whom holy Faith, terrified by no fear, answered accordingly: I am called Faith in name and in deed. The governor said: What, he said, is the worship of your religion and faith? To this holy Faith answered: From the beginning of my youth I am a Christian, and I serve the Lord Jesus Christ with all the devotion of my mind, and I confess His name; to Him I commit myself with all devotion. But the most cunning governor, feigning calm, answered a little more indulgently: Take, he said, O young girl, counsel necessary for your beauty and youth, and cease from this confession, and sacrifice to most holy Diana ^k, because she is like to your sex, and I will make you richer with many gifts. Which promise the Virgin of Christ, counting it as nothing, answered thus: I have learned from the traditions of the Fathers that all the gods of the nations are demons ^l, and do you wish to persuade me with blandishments that I ought to sacrifice to them? But the governor, moved with anger, said to her: Why have you presumed to say that our gods are demons? Either, he said, prostrating your body, sacrifice to the gods, or I will make you perish by divers torments.

[4] wherefore by his order she is dreadfully tortured; Then holy Faith, secure of her reward, strengthened by the example of great martyrs ^m, hearing these threats, desiring to pass from earthly life to supernal glory, broke out in this cry, saying: For I, for the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, am not only ready to suffer divers torments, but also desire to undergo death in His confession. Then the governor, the more inflamed with fury, ordered his attendants to put the holy Virgin on a bed of bronze ⁿ, and commanded her, laid upon it, to be stretched out in four directions and fire to be put beneath, so that her limbs might be torn apart by so cruel a punishment. And so the most holy Virgin, freely mounting the glowing gridiron, is stretched out in four directions with limbs spread apart, and, bound tight with iron thongs ^o, is rolled over the flaming grate; beneath which the impious officers put burning coals with iron rods *, and, fat being cast on the flames, force the scorching fires to fly up to her sides.

[5] Seeing which, those who were present cried out with one voice, but by her constancy converts many to Christ, saying: O impiety, and unjust judgements! Why is an innocent woman, a worshipper of God and shining with the honour of the first rank, consigned without any crime to the most grievous punishments [p]? For there are many whose names we do not know [q], who that day, seeing the constancy of holy Faith, loosing their pious necks from the sacrilegious yoke of demons, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom; all of whom, as soon as that savage executioner saw them bound together in one conspiracy for the slaughter of death, he began to soothe with blandishments and to terrify with threats: but not even so could he in any way bend them; and so, moved in anger, because he felt that he in no way prevailed against them, at last, sentence having been given, he ordered them all, together with the blessed virgin and glorious martyr Faith, to be led to the shrines, where either they should sacrifice to the gods, or, their heads being cut off, it should be made certain to all that their life was ended.

[6] The Soldiers of Christ were led, therefore, together with blessed Faith to the aforesaid place; with whom at length she is beheaded on the 6th day of October. where, since they could be compelled by no force to sacrifice, their heads being struck off, they deserved to come happily together in the hour of one day, with the triumph of martyrdom, to the crown of glory. Over whose passion on the second day before the Nones of October [r] our Lord Jesus Christ, who glories in His Saints, willed us to rejoice and to be made illustrious; to whom is honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God through all ages of ages.

ANNOTATIONS.

Since namely the tender Virgin had no hope of escaping the hands of the officers, with brave mind she freely offered herself to them to be seized. Hence the little verses of Julius Caesar Scaliger on St. Faith do not please me in every respect, in which he asserts that the Virgin could easily have escaped the hands of the officers, introducing her speaking thus:

If I were unwilling, in vain would you seek me: safe would I lie hidden. What places would the earth deny to the Lord of the lands? But I will it: nay, I desire it; in vain therefore do you seek among Wastes, and through places rough with inhuman brambles, That which to you is a fear, but to us is victory, death; And what to you is a prize, flight is to me a penalty.

p. See what was disputed by us on this matter in the Commentary, num. 8 and following. However, that St. Faith was unharmed by these punishments, which is nevertheless related in the proper Lessons of Meaux, our Acts do not at all indicate.

q. On the anonymous martyr Companions of St. Faith consult what we said in the Commentary, numbers 5 and 21.

r. Consult what we discussed on the day of the martyrdom in the Commentary, num. 25.

* read "with faith", or add "with light"

* read "as her God and Author"

* supply "and"

METRICAL TRANSLATION OF ST. FAITH, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, TO THE MONASTERY OF CONQUES,

By an Anonymous Author.

From old manuscripts.

By an anonymous author.

[1] To the relics of St. Faith, when found, After the treasure of the body Of Faith the martyr was revealed ^b, The sacred Virgin by many Prodigies began to be renowned.

Under her name, indeed, Wonderfully a church Dulcidius had erected, Who was then prelate of the city ^c.

He the long-hidden Relics had found Of Faith, the illustrious martyr ^d, Together with her companions.

[2] These within the city's walls In the greater church, and laid with honour by St. Dulcidius, and she is renowned for miracles, Which was the chief one, He had seemly arranged.

But the body of the Virgin alone He laid apart In a certain building Constructed in the suburb ^e.

In that place the Lord Granted to those who asked The things that were necessary, Through her patronage.

For to the sick a remedy, To the mute the office of the tongue, To the blind He gave light, To the dead the breath of life.

The infirm, according as each Had need of help, Grew well forthwith By the virtues of holy Faith ^f.

None praying from the heart Returned empty, But easily obtained What was useful to him.

To such great marvels, great concourses, and hence the glory of the city of Agen. Which were wrought daily, The people had begun to flow together.

So great a clamour of the Virgin's Miracles thundered forth Through the parts of Gaul also And through the shores of Spain ^h.

The city itself of the people of Agen ⁱ, Adorned very greatly, Among the neighbouring cities Had lifted up its head ^k.

For exalted splendidly By the gift of these signs, Through many spaces of the earth It shone most celebrated.

But as much as it grew higher, The sadder it cast down its face, And remained a widow, Bereft of so great a glory ^l.

[4] For the monks of Conques, Often admonished in their sleep ^m, the site and beginnings of the monastery of Conques Of translating the Virgin Spoke very frequently.

This monastery is Among the steep places of the mountains

Standing on a steep slope, Which faces the North ⁿ.

But since we have come to this, It pleases us more expressly From the very first time To set out the site of the place.

There a certain church Had first been founded, Which the onslaught of the Saracens Utterly laid waste ^o.

But, time having rolled on, There a man, Dado by name [p], Illustrious in his very manners, Was living as a solitary.

The Great, the king, was prompted That he should above all Repair the monastery of Conques.

The king, favouring his prayers, Most diligently commanded His son Louis To do this with the utmost care.

Then Louis greatly Began to spend his care On restoring all things That had been lost there.

Thus by the help of kings Now repaired from the foundation, That monastery began To be held most illustrious [q].

As has been said very often, Marvelled at such Mighty works of holy Faith.

They began therefore to say That they would be blessed If they were enriched with the relics Of this gracious Martyr.

All therefore, with an excellent Desire inflamed, Contrive with forethought [r] What the mind was eagerly handling.

Among whom a certain one was present Who had been called Ariviscus [s], most honourably Cautious in conducting all affairs;

He the office of secular Affairs to manage Knew most skilfully Without guilt against the Rule.

And when, a conference suddenly held, The monks of Conques Determined speedily To send a scout thither,

That he should go to Agen, And, if any chance permitted, By whatever devices Translate the clay of the Virgin.

Going on with a certain companion, They held steadfastly the way To the parts of the people of Agen;

And having no doubtful hope, He came to the church Where the most holy body Of Faith had been laid up.

Then indeed a long stay He feigned there, Bearing himself most honourably In the order of his whole life.

What need of more words? He became most well known to all In a short time, Both by country and by name.

Intent on holiness, He was received most willingly Into the fellowship of the brethren In a small space of days.

Under a diligent appearance Of splendid religion Bearing a stern mind, He obeyed the commands of all.

Which had been enjoined on him He faithfully performed, He won trust for himself.

Thence, after a little time, The custody of all the things Of the church was entrusted to him, As to a faithful man.

It pleased all together Who dwelt there, That an office of this kind Should be laid upon him.

But Ariviscus, provident, Not given to sloth, Explored both the changes Of the times and an approach to the matter.

Nor had he given over to oblivion The cause for which he had come, Though he remained with the brethren For the courses of ten years.

But so long an expectation, Confounded by no weariness, At the time permitted to him Found such an outcome.

[9] While on the day of the Theophany [t], The order of the Mass completed, at length stealthily carries off the body of St. Faith, After the divine Office They come to the banquet.

Then Ariviscus was absent, For he had asked them all That he might look after at the hour of dinner The affairs of his monastery.

While they dined briskly, The keeper himself softly To the tomb of the holy Martyr Goes with suspended steps.

And because the covering Was sealed excessively, Bound tight with iron seals, It could not be raised up.

Wherefore, if it is right to say it, Bent on every cunning, He dared to smash The feet of the marble tomb.

An opening having been made, The body, gathered up speedily, Is drawn out thence entire, And is hidden in a bag.

This business accomplished, The silence of night having come, Ariviscus left the suburb Of the people of Agen [u].

[10] But the darkness past, All roused from sleep, and with it takes flight, the people of Agen wretchedly bewailing their loss, When the morrow's light shone forth, The keeper nowhere appeared.

Hither and thither they run about, They think themselves mocked, And inquire through everything Why * he is absent from the church.

To the marble sepulchre Astounded now they come, Which they see emptied Of the relics of Faith the martyr.

After what had happened * Sounded forth as sufficiently ascertained, There was no solace for the wretched, Nor was there measure to their tears.

Nor is there less commotion, With varied clamour mingled, Than if by savage enemies The city had utterly perished.

[11] Counsel at length being taken, The clergy with all the people Determined * to pursue The back of the swift robber.

The pursuers indeed, some of whom pursue the fugitive, but by a contrary way, Thinking they followed the path Which leads to Conques, by the way Came to Gascony [x].

But recognizing, at first *, That they had strayed too far, They hasten to return home, And announce that they had erred.

Were sent by the right track, With the swiftest horses, Frustrated by no byways.

By these, therefore, when the radiance Of a certain day had risen, The race is run up to the place Which is now called Albenca [y].

There under a certain tree Him whom they sought they see Resting, utterly worn out, But he is not recognized by them.

Nor him whom they had known for years Could they have recognized By the mark of his true countenance Nor by likeness.

They only ask him Whether he had seen anyone Pass by of such an appearance As they say they seek.

He answered indeed That he had seen no one at all Pass by that track Since he sat under the tree.

Having gained none of their wish, To the town of the people of Conques [z] Pass on without breathing.

But after in that town Of their own desire They perceive no signs, They return again to Agen.

For certain, to the people of Agen, Utterly despairing, They decided to hide This mischance of disgrace.

But while they were saddened, Ariviscus, most ready, Escaping the hands of his enemies, Comes joyful to Figeac [aa],

Which place without doubt, Under the lordship of Conques, King Pepin, who had been, Had once ordered to be built [bb].

A certain man who had remained blind, Who then received his sight Through the merits of holy Faith.

He had long awaited What he had learned in his sleep, That in the translation of the Virgin He would bear away the gifts of light.

Therefore while the carrier of the body Of Faith the martyr was passing, Exhorted divinely, He came by chance to meet him.

Coming forward he touched the bag, And touching it receives his sight, Seeing he begins to praise; The report resounded everywhere.

Faith the mother * very many Marvels then worked, Which we have now passed over; To other things we now tend.

[15] Ariviscus, delaying nothing, Hastening the journey begun, [the relics are carried to Conques on the 14th of January, in the reign of a certain Charles the Lesser.] Near his own borders [cc] Now fixed his steps.

To him the throng of the men of Conques, Sounding the praises of God, Rejoicing for so great a glory, Came forth to meet him.

And, the relics being received, With divine services, As it was worthy to do, They took care to lay them up [dd].

Then in the parts of the Franks Reigned Charles the Lesser, Whom afterwards the Franks from the royal Throne deposed [ee].

This translation was made Of blessed Faith the martyr On the nineteenth day Before the Kalends of February * [ff].

Hence at Conques is kept This most celebrated day, On which to Christ be glory Through infinite ages.

ANNOTATIONS.

but more simple than was fair, persuaded themselves.

p. Dado, a religious man, says the cited Sainte-Marthe at column 237, conspicuous for sanctity, with his own hands cleared and grubbed the place called Conques, so that he might give himself there to contemplation. But Madraldus came to him, and after him very many, whom the odour and report of his sanctity had attracted; and as the congregation gradually grew, they built a church there in honour of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then Dado, most eager for quiet and solitude, sought a more remote place, which is called Grand-Vabre, having first designated Medraldus to preside as abbot over the nascent congregation.

q. I have nothing from elsewhere with which to confirm this whole narrative of the anonymous writer. This however is beyond doubt from the diploma of Louis the Pious, edited in the cited column 236, that the monastery of Conques was increased by him with many goods and received into his protection. Further, chapter 2 ends here in our copy.

r. See the Annotations here, letter m.

s. This name is found written variously. Elsewhere he is called Aronisdus, elsewhere Arinisdus. Consult what we said about this most cunning man and about the theft committed by him in the Commentary, num. 38.

t. The day of the Theophany is the same as that of the Epiphany, and is celebrated on the 6th day of January. See various things disputed at length as well as learnedly about this feast in Pope Benedict XIV, book on the feasts of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of His Mother, part 1, num. 26 and following.

u. That the church of St. Faith was situated in the suburb of Agen we have also taught in the Commentary, num. 33 and following. However, in our copy the third chapter of this metrical composition closes here.

x. Wasconia, or rather Vasconia, is so called from the Vascones, peoples of Spain previously dwelling beyond the Pyrenees, who, harassed with wars by the kings of the Visigoths because, trusting to the situation of their places, they would not do what was commanded, frequently poured themselves into Novempopulana, and, taking advantage of the civil wars among the Franks, gradually took a seat there, and at length obtained the whole, as Adrien de Valois writes in the Notitia Galliarum, page 381. Gascony is situated between the Aquitanian Ocean, the river Garonne and the Pyrenees mountains, as may be seen in Baudrand and others. It must therefore be that those who had it in their orders to pursue Arinisdus were bereft of their wits when they crossed the river Garonne and so hastened into Gascony, whereas they ought to have kept to the opposite road, which leads through Quercy to Conques. That this happened by the will of God, the other anonymous author of the Translation writes; on him let the credit rest.

y. Albenca, or in French l'Albenque, a village situated midway between Agen and Conques, I find in the geographical map of Aquitaine in Blaeu, distant about fifteen French leagues on either side; and it is, unless I am mistaken, the place which is indicated by our anonymous writer, and where Arinisdus, sitting worn out under a tree, was by no means recognized by the people of Agen, either because he had put on another's garment, or because, when questioned by them, he at once turned his face to the ground lest he be recognized.

z. The metrical anonymous writer seems here to disagree with the other. The latter writes that the horsemen of Agen hastened to the city of Cahors, ours to Conques, so that, if the body of St. Faith had already been carried there, they might claim it: but it is easy to understand that they turned aside to both; first indeed to Cahors, and then, when they found here no signs of the pledge sought, betook themselves to Conques, whence, the matter not accomplished, they returned to Agen.

aa. Figeac, to which Arinisdus at once betook himself, sometimes called Fiacum, is an ancient and illustrious monastery of the Order of St. Benedict in the diocese and district of Cahors on the river Célé, which flows into the Olt (the Lot) not far from Divona of the Cadurci, and is situated towards the East; where, on account of this celebrated monastery, the frequenting of the peoples gave occasion for founding a not ignoble town. So volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 171. But whether it was founded by Pepin the Elder, father of Charlemagne, or on the contrary by Pepin the Younger, king of Aquitaine, it is not the place here to define.

bb. The monks of Figeac, who say they were founded by Pepin the Elder, deny that they were subject from the beginning to the monks of Conques, says the praised Sainte-Marthe, volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 235. On the contrary, the monks of Conques think the privilege of Pepin boasted of by the monks of Figeac, by which the monastery of Conques is united and subjected to Figeac as a member to its head, … is spurious, and contend that Figeac was founded by Pepin, king of Aquitaine, to remain perpetually under the jurisdiction of the abbot of Conques; and that therefore he willed it to be called the new Conques. So again the praised Sainte-Marthe at column 238, who in the Instrumenta of the church of Rodez, page 52, column 2, presents a charter by which the opinion of the monks of Conques on this matter and the assertion of our anonymous writer are not a little established. See more on these in the praised volume of the Gallia Christiana and in volume 2 of the Benedictine Annals from page 401. Further, in our copy chapter IV ends here.

cc. Since Figeac is distant about nine common French leagues from the monastery of Conques, Arinisdus could get from there to Conques in one day, together with the stolen body of St. Faith.

dd. See what we said on this matter in the Commentary, num. 39 and 46.

ee. On the time of this translation and on this Charles the Lesser see what was disputed from num. 40. However, there is no reason why the words of Mabillon, volume 2 of the Benedictine Annals, page 401, should be objected against the epoch of this translation fixed by us, where, having said that the monastery of Conques existed in the twenty-first year of Louis, then king of the Aquitanians, that is, in the year eight hundred and one, he presently adds: In very many charters of that place which Le Cointe saw, it is said to be situated in the district of Rodez … founded in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ and of holy Mary the Virgin, and of St. Peter, prince of the Apostles, where St. Vincent, martyr of Agen, and St. Faith rest, whence it is not rarely called the monastery of St. Faith. For although it is most true that after the relics of St. Faith were translated to the monastery of Conques it commonly went under the name of St. Faith, nevertheless neither Le Cointe nor Mabillon anywhere produced any charter from which it is clear that this name was given to it before the year of Christ 886 or 887.

ff. Consult the Commentary, num. 39 and 46.

* others: What

* others: But after what happened,

* others: They proposed

* others: forthwith

* or "martyr"?

* read "the Kalends of February"

ANOTHER TRANSLATION OF ST. FAITH, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, TO THE MONASTERY OF CONQUES,

By an anonymous author.

From an old parchment manuscript of the Queen of Sweden, marked num. 744.

By an anonymous author.

PROLOGUE.

The anonymous writer, although among the biographers of the Saints The magnificent and everlasting King of the heavens, as before the beginning of the world, by the monarchy of the Father's inextricable wisdom, He alone wonderfully foresaw the end of all creatures together with their beginning, while they as yet were not, not otherwise did He choose His anointed ^b who were to be hereafter, who took up the purpose of sanctity from their first cradles, and who, gazing with the eye of the inner man on contemplation ^c alone, so excelled in the privilege of faith and stood so fixed in constancy of the contest begun, that, spurning the tyrannical commands and crafty allurements of the heathens and, besides, all kinds of torments, they could not be bent, blandly or harshly, to vain and ruinous idols by stiff-necked persecutors threatening death; but rather for the name of Jesus, their champion, they persevered as most valiant contestants ^d in the battle of this pilgrimage, and, returning to their country with a distinguished trophy, of warfare

accomplished, they received the prizes from their Lord. And that the mention of their victory might be established as solemn among earth-dwellers, as among heaven-dwellers, the same wonderful Disposer, without beginning, with equal providence refused that there should be lacking succeeding faithful and Christ-loving scribes ^e, who should hand down to writing their excellent triumph and palm of martyrdom, or miracles, which they left to their followers as themes ^f of right living and as a prerogative of doctrine.

[2] though he knows himself to be least and ineloquent, Among whom, men of so illustrious a business, I indeed am one of the moderns ^g, unskilled, and lowest of all, not to be held, to be sure, in the number of such great ones, and, although propped by no figure or verdure of rhetoric ^h, yet compelled more by the grace of benevolence than of ability, I presume to entitle with my pen the translation of one virgin and martyr of Christ, by name Faith, who also (was) noble as much in deed as in the appellation of Faith *; and lest perhaps, astounded at being worn down by the fault of a drier wit ⁱ, I approach a little more slowly, yet, contemplative aid breathing upon me, I shall undertake, beginning according to my strength, to write the same; according to my strength, I say, not in comparison with illustrious men, who in a huge trireme ^k do not fear to stretch out into the deep of so great a strait, into the sea of volumes so innumerable, with sails spread by the billowing blasts of the South wind, whom neither the breaths of fierce Boreas, blowing execrably, assail, nor the menacing waves of the swelling sea terrify.

[3] yet he undertakes to write the Translation of St. Faith in a rude style. But whither does my mind tend with the rapid course of the winds, flying ahead like a swift sagitta ^l while plying the rowing-chants ^m? Nay rather, touching the shore with poles in a little skiff ⁿ, lacking sails, rowing with my own sweat at the oars, I furrow the lesser waves more safely, and so, advancing little by little to the goal already predestined, then at last, wearied, I sometimes touch it ^o. Likewise here, reader, do not seek an artful work, not the speech of witty urbanity, not the profundity of the eloquence of rhetoricians, but know that there is present the poverty of a wit wavering rather narrowly, who, as I pretexted above, (have been) involved * in this exercise more for the sake of kindness than of authority. Besides this, however, the supreme Maker cooperating, and the very loving-kindness of God being my teacher and bedewing me with help, I desire to come right up to my spontaneous vows, and I shall not refuse to discharge them, as I have promised.

ANNOTATIONS.

* supply "was"

* perhaps supply "I have been"

CHAPTER I.

The martyrdom of St. Faith and her Companions, their burial, and then the finding and elevation of the bodies: miracles worked by St. Faith at Agen: the site of the monastery of Conques: the arts of Arinisdus, monk of Conques, for carrying off the body of St. Faith.

When the bodies of St. Faith and her martyr Companions In the time, then, of Diocletian and Maximian ^a, who wielded the sceptres of the Romulean realm, so great a rage of their tyranny raged against the Christians that through all the bounds of their empire, namely from the Eastern sea to the Western, the persecution of the faithful was cruelly carried out through the several cities by Dacian ^b, most wicked, sent by their edict. It happened therefore in that season that the same profane governor, passing to the Western shores, entered the city of Agen; and while a fierce inquisition of the worshippers of Christ was being made *, a virgin most noble by birth but nobler in sanctity, the handmaid of God, Faith, an inhabitant of the same place, was first brought to the polluted hands of the most wicked torturer; and when he could not prevail to drive her to the images, after the fiery grate and the burning of coals, she happily consummated martyrdom by the sword of the executioner, with Caprasius, Primus and Felician ^c and very many others.

[5] had been buried at Agen, and then found and elevated, But concerning the bodies of those Martyrs, the still tiny gentle flock of Christ, anxious, gathering secretly for fear of the dire heathendom the most sacred body with most diligent care, committed it to burial in a place not befitting ^d. But after many courses of years, all the fury of the heathens having been removed, a certain holy man, whose name was Dulcidius ^e, having been advanced to the dignity of the pontificate, setting all else aside, built a church outside the wall ^f of the same city towards the northern quarter in the suburb, and consecrated the same to the heavenly Bridegroom under the veneration of the sacred Virgin. Admonished from heaven also through a vision in sleep, he did not delay to translate the bodies of the Saints from the uncultivated and less religious place with the highest office of fitting honour to the place dedicated to the Lord, and he separated them from one another; for the most blessed virgin Faith, who excels the others in the palm of victory, he committed to the same basilica with the greatest honour in a precious mausoleum cut from marble, on which, as the truth of the thing done reveals down to today, in letters in relief * the title of her passion is inscribed briefly beneath the gable; but St. Caprasius he carried within the walls of the city to the church founded there, and most diligently deposited him with like honour in a sarcophagus likewise of marble ^g.

[6] and many miracles were worked at the mausoleum of St. Faith, For the aforementioned bride and martyr of Christ, Faith, had begun to shine with such signs of miracles that she gave light to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf, cured the possessed, and drove away all kinds of infirmities from various sick persons. And the same Faith, queen of virtue, having been crowned by the Lord with so great a brightness, at once her fame thundered not only through the neighbouring cities and regions, but also through the four-sided quarters of the world that very daughter of heaven and most sacred virgin Faith was proclaimed by every nation, far and wide, most famous and most glorious, through the insignia of her virtues ^h. After some little time, therefore, a devout concourse of peoples frequently flowed together to her tomb, and a very great multitude of those variously sick was carried there from round about; through whom the very great Martyr herself being wonderfully glorified by God *, all, having received health, returned thence joyful and unharmed, announcing the mighty works of God and of the Virgin.

[7] of the monastery of Conques, whose site and beginnings are related, The aforesaid city, then, is situated in Lower Gaul, which a river flows past, namely the Garonne ⁱ; but in the threefold division of Gaul this indeed is the third, and to distinguish it from the two, it is called by the surname Gallia Comata and Lower ^k. There is likewise in the province of the same Gaul a certain monastery which is called Conques ^l, set in certain valleys, shut in on every side by steep mountains, shady with woods towards the Southern pole, extending in length a space of two stadia, which in the compass of the character of the place seems formed in the likeness of a Concha (shell), and thence is known to have drawn the origin of its name. Finally, this same place was once utterly destroyed by the army of the Saracens ^m, when they went forth with hostile arms to devastate almost all Europe, so that the royal charters pertaining to its diocese were dispersed and perished. After some few years had rolled by, also, at the command of Charles, the supreme emperor, it was honourably restored from the lowest foundation ⁿ by Louis his son, who under his father, while he was still living, was crowned and raised to the kingdom, with privileges written again by his precept; there is indeed to this day in the same monastery a venerable congregation of monks, whose predecessors were held in the custom of arduous religiousness, and which in their successors, as is still plain to those who behold it daily, is zealously enlarged by increases of good virtues.

[8] These men of so great honour, while they often exchanged discourse with one another about the prodigies of the aforementioned Virgin, the ascetics, to obtain the relics of St. Faith, Arinisdus, roused meanwhile by a favourable suggestion, unexpectedly a subject of counsel arose among them, as to how the outcome of the matter might be examined, so that the body of the most holy Martyr might be translated to themselves for the salvation of the country and for the redemption of many ^o. Having therefore summoned a certain monk, by name Arinisdus [p], who had been appointed in the parish of the same monastery, for the common utility of the fathers, to take charge of a certain church, who was provident in counsel, vigorous in prudence and illustrious in every habit of character; with whom, a man of all fitness, arranging the whole series of the proposed matter, and contriving, as necessity required, how, if chance granted, it might be openly accomplished, after the counsel was completed they directed him with a guide for the journey to Agen.

[9] When indeed the envoy of such a secret had arrived there, and was turning his mind in divers directions, they send to Agen, where that cunning man, as the matter had required, he had skilfully looked over all things with himself, and living there in the habit of a pilgrim, as befitted a proselyte, he conducted himself and all his affairs cautiously,

and, as far as pertained to the matter, studied modestly to keep himself hidden, feigned a perpetual stay of remaining under the appearance of simplicity, and truly showed to all the zeal of good conversation. And he, when such a pattern of example had shone forth, became forthwith, and thereafter, most lovable to the inhabitants for the visible chastity of his body, and began to be known to them both in character and in country. By the clerics indeed he was received not only into friendship but also into fellowship. When again among them he had become renowned in the accustomed manner for every kind of virtue, and had flourished in the exercise of a skilful wit, he proved no sluggish lover of the divine law, was profitable everywhere, surpassed all in patience and humility, and obeyed all in all things. When this praiseworthy harmony of character had fully pleased all, after some days he was, not undeservedly, promoted with the assent of all to the office of keeper of the same monastery [q].

[10] Further, while he handled this ecclesiastical business duly and orderly, appointed keeper of the church of St. Faith, and managed its care seemly, and advanced more and more in good works, as much by doing them himself as by teaching others, yet the secret for whose sake he was present, intercepted by nothing prosperous or adverse, did not slip away from the cave of his breast *; but because in a short interval of time the ability of opportunely approaching to acquire this desirable treasure [r] was not given, for fear of adverse fortune, he suspended the effect of his vow, remaining among the brethren awaiting the place of opportunity even for a long time.

[11] Meanwhile, while his anxious mind very often laboured, and an inward care burned his heart, he carries off the whole body of the same Martyr by theft. as to by what order he might seize an approach to perpetrating so arduous a work, on a certain day, when the sun was bringing back the annual round of the great festivity of the Lord's Apparition [s], after the divine solemnities of the Masses had been completed, when all were solemnly coming together to take the common refection; he himself, on the pretext of guarding the church, lest perhaps, as is wont to happen, in so great a gladness of the feast day something untoward should occur, had earnestly requested leave from all to see to all the ministries of the monastery's right; and they with one mouth unanimously had granted this at his discretion, and had judged that he was acting prudently in this. But while these lingered long feasting at the festive table, he, trusting not in himself but in the Lord, did not hesitate to go to the Polyandrum [t] of the sacred Virgin. But because the covering stone remained immovable on account of the iron seals by which it held itself firmly to the lower part, and could not be raised by him intact, it was smashed at the part of the feet, and, the tomb being partly opened, he most diligently gathered the most sacred body, and, lifting it thence most venerably, put it into a very clean little sack, rejoicing and magnifying God.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Consult again the Annotations, page 293, letter s.

q. Churches were once generally called Monasteries, and especially those whose priests used a common dwelling, as was done by the clerics of this church.

r. Alcuin, Letter 49 and Poem 105, Folcard, book 1 of the Miracles of St. Bertin, chapter 8, and other writers of the middle age also use thesaurum in the neuter gender, says Du Cange in the Lexicon.

s. See the Annotations, page 293, letter t.

t. Polyandrum or Polyandrium signifies in Latin a cemetery or tomb of the dead. But sometimes, and more often among writers of the later age (as in this place), it is taken for the monument or sepulchre of one man; so Du Cange in the Lexicon, in whom see more.

* read "had been"

* supply "and", or perhaps read "in relief work"

* supply "was, and"

* did not let it slip away

CHAPTER II.

The people of Agen pursue in vain Arinisdus fleeing with the body of St. Faith: a miracle worked at Figeac: the body is conveyed to the monastery of Conques: a great concourse to it: a translation of the whole body attempted in vain: the elogium of St. Faith.

Arinisdus fleeing with the body of St. Faith After this, namely, given to no rest, awaiting the silence of the night, and having called the companion of his journey, they made their way with swift course by the returning track to their country with joyful mind, with the divine gift. But when the next day dawned, when the keeper was sought for and was absent, and the monument, being visited, was empty of the body and lacked so precious a treasure, a very great tumult also arising among the people, all running together astounded, and asking one another the chance of the matter, which report, hastily, as is wont to happen in a grave affair, spread among the common people and made known to all the people of that region. The whole city therefore coming together to the sepulchre of the Virgin and not finding the sacred relics, every age was touched inwardly with immoderate grief of heart, so that no solaces for so great a sorrow settled in their minds; but although constrained by so great a grief over their misfortune, yet not forgetful of what was to be done, they prepared for the journey certain fellow-soldiers of the equestrian order, who should pursue with swift haste the backs of the fugitives who were carrying that most sacred secret.

[13] For the whole clergy of the same place reproached themselves with this fault with many reproaches no less than they were insulted by the rest of the people, the horsemen of Agen pursue, but by the contrary way, because they had set over themselves a foreigner, arriving from a long distance of lands, and, so many natives fit for this ministry being passed over, had preferred him. But after infinite circumlocutions of words and very many lamentations, counsel being taken, they unanimously conspired that, if chance should give the fugitives back, they should either hang them on a gibbet, or they should be deprived of the light of their eyes. Stout scouts were therefore sent by the way which leads from Agen into the parts of Conques; and, the clemency of God willing, for the defence of His servants, lest they should incur total ruin, the pursuers themselves, leaving the straight line of the journey, and having diligently crossed the river Garonne too, passed hastily to the borders of the region of Gascony ^a. These indeed, by the will of God, were given over to so immense an ignorance of heart that, as they thought with ferocious mind to rush upon the fugitives by approaching them, so they removed themselves far from them, receding by a backward track.

[14] and, others having overtaken him, they do not recognize him; But after they had come to themselves, and knew that they had been mocked by a wrong passage and had laboured in vain, disturbed by excessive sorrow they made their way back to Agen, and recounted in order how it had befallen them on the way; and the inhabitants of the city, again moved over this mischance, directed men on a repeated journey tracking those who had slipped away in flight, if perhaps with a spurred steed they might by any effort prevail to make up the delay which they had previously made. And they indeed, while they made their journeys with shameless agility, on a certain dawning day a fortune without means * brought both together in a place called by its proper name Albenca ^b. There they found the carrier of the sacred body with his companion sitting under the leafy covering of a tree for the sake of taking breath. They indeed, although they gazed at him with fixed sharpness of eye, yet so did the wonderful strength of God assist ^c that him whom they had seen at home day by day not only as a fellow countryman but also as a fellow citizen and little client, and with whom they had conversed daily, as though blinded with seeing eyes, they recognized neither by looking at his stature nor by hearing the peculiarity of his voice.

[15] who accordingly, the matter not accomplished, are compelled to return to Agen, He therefore, when he was asked rather attentively, as a stranger, whether a man of such form as they had made known to him had been seen by him, made them believe with lying words that he had seen no such person anywhere at all. Upon this questioning, namely, the same man of God, terrified with excessive fear, feigning himself exceedingly weary beyond what he was, laid his wearied limbs on the ground as though for rest, in order not to be recognized, and turned his face to the ground; and, having left his companion, he took his way alone through the borders of Quercy ^d with the sacred relics. And the fugitives * entering the city of Cahors remained there for the space of one day, investigating in every way with perspicacious industry the traces of this matter, if by chance some clue should occur to them which might bring knowledge of the desired thing, so that they might not be ignorant of what way they should keep to, or whither they should tend in searching. At last, therefore, in searching, perceiving that they laboured in vain, anxiously conjecturing what was to be done in this doubtful matter, at length, above all, to Agen to return

they chose, saying among themselves that it was more profitable. Let us return therefore; perhaps, as is believed, it is not permitted to him to go away, on account of the merits of the Virgin, who does not suffer the things he has taken * from us to be transferred elsewhere. Returning, namely, on this understanding, and since their purpose turned out otherwise than they hoped, at least frustrated in all their search and hope, they came home.

[16] The nobles of Agen also, when so unheard-of a rumour, related by the envoys arriving, while meanwhile Arinisdus, pursuing his journey, thundered in their ears, that they would not further recover the body of the holy Martyr, after this most grievous loss judged nothing more useful for themselves than to cover the chance of their calamity with silence, lest the infamy of their own disgrace should be divulged among the people, and the fault of that misfortune be reckoned to their unskilfulness and sloth. And since this same happy (if it is right to say so) sacrilege could not be concealed long, a little after it was betrayed and spread abroad everywhere through the breadth of the lands. But the faithful man mentioned above, anxious for fear of the pursuers, hastened his flight, so that * he might be permitted, protected by the shield of God's mercy, to escape the bloody hands of his rivals.

[17] It happened indeed, when the same man, driven on monstrously with unremitting haste, was passing through a certain village called Figeac ^e, he comes to Figeac, where a certain blind man is divinely enlightened; that a certain blind man, to whom it had long since been divinely revealed in sleep that he would be given light in the migration of the same holy Virgin, being aware likewise of the coming of her body, as he had perceived this presage from God, boldly asked for this very thing, begging for the light of day, and as he touched the covering with which it was wrapped, he suddenly received the light of his eyes. But not in this alone indeed was the same very great Virgin exalted by the Lord in her passage, but also in many other wonderful signs, which we avoid on account of the prolixity of the pen; and, so to speak, more would have been done through her, had not the carrier, girt about with a harmful terror, whereby he might lie hidden from the hands of his adversaries, gone off headlong from every place in unremitting flight.

[18] And he who was made whole was especially asked by the very carrier of the sacred relics, thence Arinisdus, making for Conques with the sacred body, who feared that he would incur in vain the loss of so great a treasure with the punishment of his own body, not to be willing to betray him suddenly, and by no means to divulge how the truth of the thing done concerning him stood, until he should make his way to his own country, lest perhaps he should place before him * the stumbling-block of some injury from anyone. And he too who received the gift of sight, praising and magnifying God and the Virgin for joy, readily assented to the prayers of him who entreated. This conversation being ended, the servant of Christ, as quickly as he was able, intent with every effort, accomplished the journey to the place already mentioned above, namely Conques, which is separated from the same village by no long interval of lands, but by about twelve customary miles ^f.

[19] And the whole choir of the monks of Conques, when the same bearer of the sacred thing was approaching their neighbourhood, is received with solemn rite and the greatest gladness by the monks, having heard, namely, of his coming, walked far out to meet him, meeting the most holy Martyr with a fitting procession together with the rest of the throng of the faithful, with cross, thuribles fragrant with the odour of spices, and the other divine services; the blessed Virgin was received by all with worthy honour, with a most joyful heart and a kindly mind. After that too, the duties of the praises having been duly and religiously performed, they returned with hymns and canticles of litanies, and brought in the body of the most blessed Martyr of Christ with the highest honour and glory into the temple especially dedicated under the title of the holy and supreme Saviour Jesus Christ, and with the greatest caution venerably set it in a most seemly place under most diligent guard on the 19th day before the Kalends of February; at that same time, namely, while Charles the Lesser, king of the Franks, was ruling, whom the princes of his dominion, conspiring unjustly against him, cast down from the royal throne, and set the crown of the kingdom on Otto , duke of the Aquitanians, and chose him to reign in his stead ^g.

[20] and presently frequent concourses of peoples to the sacred body take place, And the aforesaid day of the Translation the most devout people of Christ chose, for the veneration of the Virgin, as eternally most celebrated for themselves and pre-eminent in all the gladness of the true faith; which day the universal Christianity of that land, from then, and now, and in the future, adorns with annual observance in the praises of God and with all spiritual dancing, with every kind of ornament of divine worship, and keeps festive ^h. From that day, therefore, to this day a very great multitude of peoples come together from every side very frequently to the threshold of the aforesaid temple to visit the relics of the holy Martyr of Christ ⁱ, so that it is with difficulty credible to anyone, unless it lie open to his own gaze, when it is related *, how they come and go in crowding phalanxes, whom at times the size of the monastery, although it is of excessive magnitude in structure, does not suffice fittingly to hold; and there, keeping the nightly vigils according to custom with lights, after the completion of the prayers and divine mysteries they return with joy to their own homes.

[21] hence to translate it into a new basilica built For since it was not fitting that the pious and gentle fold of the monks should endure so populous an approach of frequent throngs, on account of the urgency of the service of Christ and the tradition of the holy father Benedict, and they themselves reckoned the frequent favour of the common people a grave annoyance and disquiet, in the days also of Stephen ^k, venerable prelate of the Auvergnats, who was also one of the most skilful, he himself advising and most earnestly urging it, a basilica of the greatest beauty joined to the monastery itself ^l was constructed from the foundation after a little time, in which the body of the sacred Virgin might be committed to entombment, so that an easier access might continually lie open to all who flowed together there and visited it. The building of the oratory therefore having been completed by the full contrivance of the architect, and consecrated by the lawful benediction of the archimandrite, the chief men and wise men of that land coming together in one, they chose the simpler and worthier, who would be fit to move the holy Martyr of Christ from her place, and to carry her with the greatest humility to the newly built church.

[22] the monks of Conques prepare, but in a vain attempt; And when these men of lofty merit approached the gracious body with anxious mind, and began with every effort of religion to lift it up, the marvel-working of Christ the supreme maker being present, it remained fixed with so great a weight that it persisted immovable in the manner of a mountain. They indeed, fearing that they had not touched this sacred thing worthily enough, set themselves in the affliction of fasts and prayers, and approaching it again, not even so did the beginning of the work turn out according to their wish. Reckoning it still a spurious thing due to the fault of their frailty, that they had not brought it to effect, again given to the maceration of prolonged abstinence, and trying a third time, but their labour profited not at all in the act of accomplishing the matter. But lest so many men of this monastery, of famous and lofty name, should be reckoned by anyone foolish, or their knowledge inept, or lest by chance they should be punished in any way for this forwardness if they went beyond a third approach, they utterly ceased from trying further to carry the same sacred thing ^m to the aforementioned place.

[23] Thereafter, namely, recognizing that their undertaking was unlawful and forbidden them by the will of God, [wherefore they build over the body a magnificent case, afterwards renowned for miracles.] they endeavoured to fabricate, beside the rear side of the altar of the aforesaid holy and supreme Saviour Jesus Christ, the case of a wonderful structure with every pomp of glowing gold and flashing gems, under which the most worthy Virgin, sealed up, rests happily in Christ, and there without doubt is frequented by an innumerable people. Who indeed is so manifoldly made wonderful by the Lord in this place through the insignia of her merits that her saving work is shown in all the sick and in those afflicted with divers evils; and thus glorified from heaven, she daily climbs from virtue to virtue; for the excellent deeds and prodigies of this most prudent Virgin, because they are manifold and cannot be touched even on the surface, we do not take up here to assert, but rather, because they have been written, we entirely pass over. But if anyone is an eager searcher of volumes, who burns to obtain the notes of these, let him read through the Codex of her Miracles ⁿ.

[24] What tongue, O beloved reader, what weight of elegance suffices to set forth worthily enough so renowned a Martyr of Christ *? Elogia or what effective philosopher will fully unfold in a thousand modes of songs the praises of her merits? Let the powerful study of the Academy ^o indeed yield to her virtue; for all the sophistic art [p] does not prevail to express the summit of her glory. O Virgin blessed in all things, inhabitant of paradise, companion of the Angels, who, placed in the flesh, thirsted for Christ with panting breast, for whom, fighting like a soldier and triumphing like a warrior, you conquered the enemy, and carried back a noble trophy above the stars, and received as bridegroom the same whom thirsting you desired. O happy merit of this pearl, and O great and inestimable miracle already spoken of! Of her whose soul deserved to embrace the Son of God in the heavens, the relics, brought from elsewhere, desired to possess on earth a house specially assigned to her name, so that this mystical thing might not be void; because as the bride is joined to the heavenly Bridegroom in the starry hall on high, so in His dwelling she might be coupled to Him below, so that the beloved might nowhere desert the Beloved, nor any place stand empty of their love.

[25] Hail, renowned daughter of Sion, O gracious Faith, nursling of the heavenly Jerusalem, various flashing among the dances of the Virgins, like the rose and the lily. O day to be venerated, day to be kept, day to be proclaimed, which brought forth such a flower into the light of this world. O too happy land of Conques, adorned with the pledge of such a gem, and of such a lamp, you who shine resplendent with its lightning, rejoice and applaud, adorned with such a light, which shines above the ether like the sun among the stars. O sublime glory of the poles, crown of Martyrs, lamp of Virgins, shining with beautiful face like the brightest star, proceeding comely from the chamber of the King like the dawn glowing exceedingly, be glad, most noble maiden, for your beauty has deserved Christ as Lover, the true Sun, whose splendour and comeliness surpass the brightness of heaven and all the serenity of the burning day. To the Unbegotten Himself also, and to His Only-begotten Son, with the Spirit the Paraclete, be equal honour and doxa [q] through immortal ages of ages. Amen.

Who didst fashion the globe of the world, who also the abyss, For Thou art seen beautiful in creatures of every kind, Not otherwise dost Thou shine wonderful and immense in the Saints; For Thee the virgin Faith despised the riches of the age, Victorious over scourges, sword, grate, Dacian being spurned, Carrying back the noble banner of triumph above the ether. The city of Agen, a rose, with the wave of poured-out blood, At first cherishing the body, but afterwards groaned that it was taken from her; Now the soil of Conques also enjoys these sacred limbs, And the renowned land glitters with the rays of such a light-bearer, And rejoices to Christ, with twice three praises, to the Lamb, Who granted this highest glory to their merits.

[27] but either ineptly composed or ineptly copied. Hail [s], star, Faith, thou greatest of the citizens * of those on high, O hope, pomp, salvation, virtue, flower, glory and light Star-bearing, who with the Lord reignest * in the hall,

Raise thou up by thy prayers the world, falling by its own guilt [t]… Wherefore, O loving Virgin of God, succour the little one; He is of mortal sex by his fashioning, because he is dust, Lest by the weight of the flesh the image of Christ be overcome. But let the spirit return victorious to the ethereal stars, Where there is peace, perpetual light, and true without time, And where the Sceptre-bearing High-Throned One rules the heavenly realms; Make us lovingly, King of kings, to climb these heights, Where we may sing Thee with magnificent praise through the age; This may the Father, this the Begotten, this the gracious Spirit grant [u].

ANNOTATIONS.

p. See the Annotations, page 294, letter h.

q. That is, and to the Holy Spirit honour and glory.

r. Alpha, that is, the beginning, according to that of the Apocalypse, chapter 1, verse 8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

s. Chere the anonymous writer uses from the Greek word χαῖρε, for salve, ave.

t. The five verses which follow in our copy are either so badly turned and involved through the unskilfulness of the anonymous writer, or so dislocated and deformed through the fault of the copyist, that they could by no reckoning be reduced by me to the laws of metre and syntax. Wherefore I judged that they should be omitted here, and that especially because they seem to indicate nothing worth noting.

u. At the end of our copy is placed a prayer, which, as I judge, is the same that Tillemont, in volume 4 of the Mémoires ecclésiastiques, page 753, Note 1, calls rather beautiful. It has seemed good to subjoin it here entire, because it bears not a little on the posthumous glory of St. Faith, and also conciliates belief for the miracles now to be edited. It is conceived in these words: Holy and blessed Faith, precious virgin and glorious martyr, honour of heaven, glory of paradise, pearl of the heavenly Jerusalem, bride of Christ, sweet and beloved friend of God, who, setting aside the allurements of worldly pleasures, desired, thirsted for and longed for Christ alone, and never ceased until through the grace of martyrdom you found Him, now you have, now you hold, now you see Him whom you desired, and, having seen Him, you are sated without weariness. In Him you delight, Him you embrace, under the shadow of Him whom you desired you sit, and His fruit is sweet to your throat. To Him your voice is sweet and your face comely. He commands you as a handmaid, exalts you as a queen, cherishes you as a daughter, crowns you as a friend; strong as death was your love. And how could you have greater love than this, that you should lay down your lives for one another; and therefore your charity is knit in an indissoluble manner, and full of all happiness, breathing the odour of eternal life. We pray you therefore, renowned and heavenly woman Faith, whom, after the incomparable and deific Mother of God Mary, the insignia of miracles set before almost all holy Virgins, that you may succour us sinners in the present life, and obtain pardon of our sins from your most loving Redeemer, whom you studied to please in this life, and whom now and always you desire to behold among the angels, and on the last day of judgement turn the anger of the coming Judge, by your holy prayers, into the greatest mildness and goodness towards us wretches; so that, delivered from the eternal fires of gehenna and joined to the fellowship of the Blessed, we may deserve happily to live eternally with you in the heavens. Amen.

* or "unexpected"?

* that is, the persecutors

* read "which he took from us, and which"

* perhaps "so that"

* "should be opposed"

* supply "and with"

* read "Odo"

* or "to be related":

* supply "prodigies" or something similar

* read "and hymn"

* or "citizen"?

* or "rulest"?

MIRACLES,

written by Bernard, master of the school of Angers.

From an old manuscript of the Queen of Sweden, marked 744, partly collated with the Labbe edition, volume 2 of the New Library of Manuscripts, from page 531.

By Bernard.

THE AUTHOR'S PROLOGUE

Collated with the Mabillon edition, volume 4 of the Benedictine Annals, page 703.

What occasion was given him for writing the miracles of St. Faith, To the most holy and most learned of men Fulbert ^c, bishop of Chartres, Bernard, least of scholastics, the gift of the highest beatitude. When some time ago I was enjoying your sincere companionship at Chartres, it happened rather often that, either for the sake of writing or of praying, I went to the little church of St. Faith the martyr which is situated outside the walls of that city ^d. Concerning which I remember that we once, amid the talk of conversation, fell into mention of St. Faith and her miracles, which are continually worked by the gift of almighty Christ at the place of the monastery of Conques , where her most sacred body is venerably honoured ^e. These, because partly they seemed to be celebrated by the report of common folk, and partly were held unheard of, were rejected from belief no otherwise than as the inventions of an empty tale. And yet , since what was true could not, by the will of God, be silent , and the opinion of the truth was already running through almost all Europe, there gradually came into my heart a silent thought, impatient of oblivion, that I should go to the very dwelling-place of the holy Martyr with the same zeal for learning. At last the matter came to this point, that I noted in a pocket notebook the time and day of the vow made thence, lest it be given over to oblivion ^f.

[2] and in what manner he tracked down their truth, Meanwhile a cause arose by which, entreated by the bishop ^g of the city itself, I moved to the city of Angers , where for almost three years, wasting the time of study, to confess the truth, in empty trifles, I went beyond the term of my vow ; for I was awaiting a good opportunity, which, as the occupations of manifold care followed one upon another, so deluded me with false expectation that, like a fish caught within the enclosure of the line, the more I strove to be freed, the more grievous the evils in which I was entangled. But at length, lest under the appearance of adversity I should seem to be consulting my sloth, since I perceived that hidden and almost inextricable snares were being prepared for me by diabolical fraud, and that one thinking of good things was being utterly frightened off from his undertakings by the enemy's art, setting things aside suddenly, I came, the Lord leading, to the desired mausoleum of the glorious Martyr. Here then, even before I began carefully to inquire about the virtues ^h of St. Faith, so great an affluence of miracles abounded from divers relaters that, had there not been an ardent mind for hearing, they would have affected the brain with excessive weariness. But because I myself deserved to see the very man whose eyes had been drawn out by the roots with violent tearing , and afterwards had been re-formed with the integrity of nature unimpaired, and now even in this hour of dictating I see him, and knew it ⁱ by his own declaration, the whole province attesting, I think that this is to be inserted first in the reading, as the foundation of the other miracles, not only sense for sense, but also word for word, as I hear it from his mouth, a stranger to brevity, beginning a fairly long line of narrative. But after this, on account of the haste of returning, I determine to add a very few miracles more beautiful than the rest , noted with the greatest brevity and cursorily, and those indeed which are not older than our age, and whose witnesses at hand have drawn out ^k not a fabulous but a most evident truth, to be carried * with me into my country, God leading; so that, namely, given to more diligent leisure, I may make a more abundant reading for those who will read it.

[3] When therefore, most learned of mortals, you have received these things, as also why he writes them rather than others, correct only the arrangement of the art; for whatever shall have been narrated to me, although unlearned and unskilled in dictating rightly, I shall yet not be simple in hearing nor easy in believing; or rather, if it seems foul to you that a style unequal to its matter has polluted the matter, take it up yourself, saving my benevolence, you who, it is established, have uniquely come forth into a higher degree of wisdom, to adorn so noble and so glorious a theme with a noble and glorious style, lest the truth, corroded by a bad style, should repel those reading it, and through this the best of things become vile; for to have seized upon so great and such a history, as though the wise had been cast aside, will rather be the wickedness of a presumptuous man, were it not that the cause brought forward into the midst makes me immune from this guilt of audacity; since , to declare it more manifestly, it is better that heavenly miracles, now while they are new and undoubted, should be committed to writing in whatever way by a scholastic, however unlearned, the truth being preserved, than that an orator should be awaited, yawning in doubtful hope, from unknown parts of the world.

[4] Therefore I seem to myself not so much to be blamed if I strive to set forth according to my strength the gifts of divine grace, Bernard sets out, and asks that credence be given to his statements. since the very lack of writers vehemently demands that I do this. For the rest, you who are about to read this, I warn you not to be scandalized at the arrangement of this writing, seeking the sequence of times ^l; for the pressing necessity of returning does not permit me to investigate to the pure, except those things which are by no means to be passed over without loss of fruit . Whence here in this writing of the book which, God cooperating, I begin to compose on the virtues of St. Faith, not the order of the years, but the similarity of the miracles will agree, whose inviolable truth most diligently by me

searched out, because nothing is truer, I pray that you give credence to the relation with full heart, lest it be better for you afterwards to have derogated less from the holy Martyr; or rather, if the unaccustomed novelty of the prodigious thing disturbs you, this above all I ask, prostrate to the ground before * your fraternity ^m, that in our time, not so much for the sake of prayer as for the sake of experience, you too, after I have returned, may come here, lest, inexperienced, you should untimely judge false that whose truth, having experienced it, you will of your own accord spread abroad ⁿ.

ANNOTATIONS.

Fulbert, to whom the writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, volume 7, page 261 and often elsewhere, ascribe the title of Saint, is called by various names in various manuscripts; elsewhere he is called Folbertus, Fulpertus, Ulbertus and Umbertus, elsewhere Wlpertus, Wlbertus, nay even Wilbertus, as the praised writers of the Histoire littéraire testify, page 261, Note 1. He was a prelate illustrious no less for sanctity than for learning, so that he is deservedly commonly called the most brilliant light of the Gallican church of his time, and at his death the study of philosophy and of human and divine doctrines is said to have perished in France and the glory of priests almost to have fallen. Even then, when Fulbert had attained the episcopal rank in the year of Christ 1007, he did not cease from teaching, and had a school most noble for the frequency of disciples flowing together from every side, among whom was our Bernard. What Fulbert was like in teaching his disciple Adelmann, praised in volume 7 of the Histoire littéraire, page 14, indicates in these verses:

Alas! with how great dignity of moral industry, With how great weight of matter, sweetness of words, He unfolded the secrets of higher knowledge. The studies of the Gauls flourished under thy cherishing; Thou didst cultivate divine, thou human doctrines, Nowhere suffering virtue to be obscured by sloth.

Besides what was said in volume 1 of April among the Passed Over, page 856, see distinguished elogia of this man in volume 8 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana from column 1113 and in the praised volume 7 of the Histoire littéraire from page 261; from which also you may easily form a judgement of the merits and learning of his disciple Bernard, who was intimate beyond others with so great and such a prelate.

In our copy there is added: Here ends the letter; and then is subjoined: Here begin the chapters of the following book, on which see what was said by us in the Commentary, numbers 90 and 94. Further, the list of chapters in our copy runs thus:

Chap. 1. Of Witbert, whose eyes, torn out by the roots, St. Faith restored.

Chap. 2. Of Gerbert, a similar miracle.

Chap. 3. Of him who, rushing upon a monk of St. Faith, perished by a fall.

Chap. 4. Of her who scorned to rise before the sacred image.

Chap. 5. Of the blind daughter of a widow.

Chap. 6. Of the woman who usurped the ring which another, dying, had left to St. Faith.

Chap. 7. Of the wicked merchant.

Chap. 8. Of the boy in whom a fourfold miracle was worked.

Chap. 9. Likewise of a blind man and a lame man.

Chap. 10. Of him who was freed from hanging on the gallows by the help of St. Faith.

Chap. 11. Of him to whom St. Faith brought a hammer to break his iron fetters.

Chap. 12. Of him who, forewarned by St. Faith, escaped by a leap through the window of a tower, and of the wonderful ass.

Chap. 13. Again a miracle of Gerbert.

Chap. 14. Of the pilgrim captive and chained, and freed by the sudden help of St. Faith.

Chap. 15. The third return of Barnard to St. Faith, and that the enlightened Witbert had already died.

Chap. 16. Of him whom, struck with a sword, St. Faith wonderfully healed.

Chap. 17. Of a certain Bernard raised from death, and of the wonders shown to him on the way as he came to St. Faith.

Chap. 18. Of a mule raised from death.

Chap. 19. Of a hawk found.

Chap. 20. Of a crippled girl.

Chap. 21. Of a cripple straightened.

Chap. 22. Of a peasant freed from a demon.

Chap. 23. Of a certain girl, a similar miracle.

Chap. 24. Of a soldier wounded by an arrow and healed through St. Faith.

* Mabillon: Conchatensis

* Mabillon: by the omnipotence of Christ

* Mabillon: partly because

* Mabillon: And then

* or "be kept silent"

* Mabillon: the same

* Mabillon: Andegavensem

* Mabillon: I went beyond, however, the vow

* Mabillon: under hope

* Mabillon: I foresaw

* Mabillon: after

* Mabillon: by vengeance

* Mabillon: had been

* Mabillon: of the rest, I forbid

* Mabillon: they left

* or "to be carried"?

* Mabillon: than that

* Mabillon: not yet as

* Mabillon: to spread abroad

* Mabillon adds: of mercy

* Mabillon: by your fraternity

BOOK I OF THE MIRACLES

CHAPTER I.

Of Witbert, whose eyes, torn out by the roots, St. Faith restored.

CHAP. I.

Well then, in the district of Rodez ^a, where also the most blessed virgin Faith rests, To one returning from a pilgrimage undertaken to St. Faith in the neighbourhood of the village of Conques a certain priest, Geraldus by name, still dwells, surviving, who had a kinsman and a son in Pontifical Confirmation ^b, by name Witbert, a home-born servant of his house and a vigorous steward of his affairs. This Witbert had once gone to Conques for the sake of the festivity, and, the solemn watching of the vigil ^c having been completed according to custom, on the morrow, that is, on the very day of the solemnity, he was returning by the returning track, when by an unlucky fortune he came upon his aforesaid lord, moved against him by the hidden hatred of jealousy. When the priest saw him at close quarters in the habit of a pilgrim, and in peaceable words at the first approach addressed him thus: Behold, Witbert, you have become a Romeus ^d, as I see; (for so the pilgrims of the Saints are called in that country) and he answered: Yes, lord, returning from the festivity of St. Faith. Then, having asked about other things as if amicably, he gives him leave to go away. But when they had passed each other a little way, the priest of Judas-like treachery , looking back behind him (if indeed it is right that he be called a priest who contaminates the priesthood with sacrilege), orders the man to wait for him a little; and having overtaken him, he presently commanded that he be held, hemmed in on both sides by his men.

[6] Witbert, by his master, to whom he was falsely suspected of a crime, When he saw this, trembling with excessive fear, he began to inquire the sum of the crime of which he was accused. To whom the perfidious man gave an answer of this kind: You have done me evil and are preparing to do worse, and therefore you will pay me the penalty in no other way than by satisfying me with your very eyes. Nor yet did he indicate more openly, as though for shame, the manner of the fault; for it is dishonourable for priests to pass judgement about their own jealousy ^e; since indeed the cause of this evil had arisen from a suspicion of the violation of a woman. But he, being ignorant of the matter, brings forward confidently enough a purgation from every kind of fault. Behold, he said, lord, every wickedness in which I am held suspect by you, if it be that you openly disclose it, I am ready to refute lawfully; I do not think it can be found in what way I ought to incur your anger and that of your faithful men. To whom he said: Let cease, let cease the circumlocutions of superfluous excuse; for it has long since been proclaimed, sentence having been given, that you lose your eyes. But he, seeing that he * was pressing upon him with the spirit of a gladiator, and that the irreparable hour of his destruction was imminent, and that there would be no further place for prayer, yet, although despairing of his present safety, added a cry of this kind: Lord, grant pardon, I beg, and if not on account of my innocence, at least for the love of God and of St. Faith, for whose love I at present wear the sacred habit of a pilgrim.

[7] At this the grim beast, holding neither God nor His Saint in great regard, both his eyes are torn out by the roots, gnashing with the savage roar of fury, thus vomits forth in sacrilegious words the poison of blasphemy long conceived. Neither God, he said, nor St. Faith will free you today, nor will you profit by invoking them so as to go away unpunished from my hands, nor will you find refuge in this, that out of reverence for the pilgrim's habit, since you are most iniquitously injurious to me, I should hold you a person not to be despised and inviolable. This said, he orders the man to be thrown headlong, and the eyes of the innocent to be violently plucked out. But when he could impel none of his men (who were only three, and whose names we pass over on account of the horror of their barbarism) to so great a crime, obtaining at least that he be held down by them, suddenly slipping from his horse, with the fingers with which he was accustomed to handle the most sacred body of Christ, he violently drew out the eyes of his little son,

and carelessly threw them on the ground. Not without the presence of the supreme power, which does not suffer men to be beyond divine care, and is ever near to those who call upon it in truth, and does judgement for those who suffer injury.

[8] For those who were then present there deserved at once to see a snow-white dove; which a bird was seen to carry to Conques. or certainly, as the perpetrator of the crime himself is still accustomed to assert, it was a magpie; which magpie, that is *, dove, took up from the ground in that very hour the little eyes of the wretch, smeared with fresh blood, and, raised above the height of the mountainous land, was seen to carry them to Conques ^f. Nor is it wonderful if God entrusted the eyes to a magpie, a bird, to be kept for a time, who once through ravens furnished food to Elijah in the desert; or perhaps, as the Divinity willed, a doubtful bird came, which could be perceived as neither quite a magpie nor quite a dove; but between the character of each bird there was no ambiguous distinction, since these indeed declare that they saw a white dove, while he says he saw nothing other than a magpie marked with black and white. But since God will appear terrible to the impious, but gentle to the just, it could have happened that to the guiltless indeed, and to those groaning in silent conscience over the crime they had seen, a white form was seen, but to the criminal a confused one. When however the same sacrilegious man had seen this, led by repentance he began to weep more profusely. To whom it was said by one of his companions that he was doing the same in vain and late. And going away thence, he afterwards either did not presume to the sacred celebration of the Mass on account of the crime perpetrated, or (which seems truer) utterly neglected it on account of secular business.

[9] But the mother of this Geraldus, pitying with vehement affection the injured innocence, His wounds cured, St. Faith received the aforesaid Witbert at home, and most kindly supplied him with all things necessary until he was made whole. With her also he had been staying at that season, not so much by the order of his senior ^g, as in avoiding the atrocity which the same senior, more savage than usual, had exercised against him, from the time he had received in his heart the wound of false jealousy. And the same , having been made whole, in the same year sought a public livelihood by the art of a jongleur ^h, and began to make gain thence ; so much so that (as he is now accustomed to relate) he did not care to have eyes any longer, so much did both the desire of gain and the pleasantness of advantage delight him.

[10] A year therefore having rolled by, when the day of the solemnity was impending, while on the day before the vigil he had given his limbs to sleep, there seemed to stand by him a girl of inexpressible elegance, of angelic and most serene aspect, appears to him after a year; with white face, sprinkled drop by drop with rosy blush, who by the inestimable vigour of her countenance surpassed all human comeliness. Her size was no other than that which she is read to have had at the time of her passion, that is, a girlish stature, not yet of advanced age ⁱ; her garments were most ample, and woven throughout with most pure gold and surrounded with a subtle variety of embroidery. The size of her sleeves, hanging down to her feet, was subtly gathered into very small folds on account of their magnitude; and the band of her head, folded into a circle, flashed with twice two pearls of transparent whiteness. But the habit of the little body seems to me to signify nothing else than that at the time of her passion (as we have said) she is read to have been young ^k.

[11] of wonderful form, of which an exposition is given, But the character of the face, as far as it was right for him to whom this vision appeared to discern, or the wonderful dress, were not, as I think, without cause; for these same things bear in themselves an illustrious portent; since indeed the garments exceeding the measure of the person we can take as the armour or protection of overflowing faith, whose golden brightness openly figures the illumination of spiritual grace. What does the subtlety of the embroidery or the folding of the sleeves display, but the searching out of divine wisdom? And deservedly on the principal part of the body, that is, the head, four gems were seen, through which we can clearly perceive the quadrivium ^l of the principal virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Because St. Faith had the knowledge and perfection of these, and being thoroughly inspired by the Holy Spirit, most perfectly cultivated within the bowels of love the others also derived from them, she pleased the Most High in every way; and accordingly, not ignorant of the supreme good, she offered herself freely to be immolated by sacred martyrdom, and offered herself, dear, to Christ as a holocaust ^m. There remains the character of the face, which, although we set it first, as we learned from the relater, we shall nevertheless place last in our exposition; because in it, which is the sum and end of the whole life, we perceive charity to be signified, namely through the whiteness of the face; for rightly by whiteness, which by its brightness conquers the other colours, is understood charity, the most perfect of the virtues; which we, not absurdly, as we received it from our relater, have set before the redness, which insinuates martyrdom, because one by no means arrives at the grace of martyrdom without the eminence of charity. This virtue, therefore, Faith, most pleasing and most dear to God, kept inviolably ⁿ, when for His love she eagerly sought the untimely bitterness of death.

[12] and promises him that he will recover his eyes under a certain condition, Presently, to return to what I began, the same most Blessed one, leaning on the support of the couch, laying her hand gently and sweetly on the right cheek of the sleeper, begins thus: Are you sleeping, Witbert? To whom he said: Who are you who call me? And she answered: I am St. Faith. To her he said: What cause has occurred, Lady ^o, that you should come to me? And she answered: Nothing else but to visit you. And when Witbert gave thanks, St. Faith again asks him: Do you know me? And he, recognizing her as if seen long before, seemed to answer thus: Yes, I see you well, Lady, and I know you very well . Tell me also, she says, how you are? and how prosperously your affairs go? He answered: Excellently, Lady, fortune succeeds in my affairs, and all things by the grace of God are prosperous for me. To whom she said: And how prosperous, when you do not see the light of heaven? For he, as happens in sleep, had thought that he saw otherwise concerning himself than the thing was. And presently at this end of the questions he remembers the eyes he had lost, saying: And how could I see, who last year, returning from your festivity, wretch that I am, lost my eyes by the violence of an unjust lord? And she said: Exceedingly, she said, he offended God, and gravely provoked the anger of the supreme Artificer, who condemned you, undeserving, to the loss of your body; but if tomorrow, which will be the vigil of my martyrdom, you go to Conques, and, having bought two candles, set one before the altar of St. Saviour and the other before the altar where the clay of my body is laid [p], you will deserve to rejoice in the beauty of your eyes re-formed entire; since for the injury inflicted on you I have moved the loving-kindness of the heavenly Judge to mercy with a mighty cry, and have wearied God for your salvation with the insistence of assiduous prayer so long, until He should render the effect of the choice obtained easy and granted.

[13] When she had spoken these words, she began again and again to press upon him as he was about to go, which when he had fulfilled, and more earnestly to warn him to go very quickly, nay, to counsel him thus as he hesitated about the price of buying the wax: A thousand men, she said, whom you have never seen, will give to you; besides this, however, that you may accomplish your business more easily, go in haste at the present dawn to the church of this parish (this indeed was the one near which he had lost his eyes, which from ancient times was called Spariacus [q]), and there, hearing Mass, you will find a giver of six pence [r]. And while he was returning worthy thanks for the benefit of consolation, the heavenly power went back. At once therefore awakened, he sought the aforesaid church, where, when he had set out this whole vision in order to all, all reckoned it for madness. Yet not desisting from what he had begun, when he was asking the surrounding multitude, supplicating each one individually, seeking to borrow on pledge twelve pence, at length out of the others a certain Hugo, putting himself forward, having opened his purse, held out to him freely six coins with an obol, which exceeded only so much the number which he had received in the vision; then he, not forgetful of the divine vision, becomes more certain of the future promise. What need of words? He goes to the place, discloses the vision to the elders, buys the candles, places them on the altars, keeps watch before the golden image of the most sacred Martyr [s].

[14] And about the middle of the night he seems to see, by a singular prodigy he recovers his eyes, twin berries [t] as it were of brightness, not larger than those of the laurel tree, sent down from above into the little places of his eyes that had been cut out, and deeply fixed there; by which reverberation at once confused in brain, and turned to stupor, he fell asleep. And when the morning lauds were being performed, awakened on account of the harmony and loud singing of those chanting the psalms, he seems to himself to behold as it were the shadow of shining lights and of men moving about. But on account of the inner pain of the brain, almost forgetful of himself, by no means believing what was the truth of the matter, he rather thought he was dreaming. At length, when little by little the stupor which he had conceived within his temples ceased, he began now more openly to discern the forms of things, and, scarcely come to himself, he recalls the vision, and, putting his hands to them, he feels the windows of revived light, the flesh most wholly re-formed with pupils in his forehead. And at once, witnesses being brought, he proclaimed the immense magnificence of Christ with immense praises. There was therefore ineffable joy, unheard-of gladness, incredible stupor, an almost doubtful question whether they beheld so unheard-of a miracle in the imagination of a dream or in the truth of the thing, especially for those who had known him before.

[15] and fearing evil again from his master, he presently flees. Amid these things a ridiculous thing, and most worthy of applause, happened. For, being a man of the purest simplicity, there crept upon him in his heart a superfluous trepidation of fear, that perhaps that Geraldus, who had formerly torn out his eyes, had come to the public solemnity, as happens, and that if by chance he should meet him, relying on a larger band, he would go to cut out again the renewed beauty of his eyes. For this reason, therefore, amid the confused din of the promiscuous crowd, he slips away as secretly as he could; he was not yet, however, altogether certain of the gift of recovered light, so great a stupor at the thing had seized him, when by chance, amid the narrow press of the crowds running together to the church, it being now clear day, he struck against an ass standing in the way; and having looked at it, rebuking with manly severity, he begins thus: Hey you, fellow, whoever you are, you clumsy one, drive away your ass, lest it be a stumbling-block to wayfarers. Here first made most certain of the truth of the fact, he withdrew in swift flight to a certain soldier [u] known to him, whose stronghold, situated on a lofty rock, the nature of things had so fortified on every side that it seemed inaccessible to machines of every kind, not farther from Conques than sixteen miles. Fleeing to it, therefore, for the protection of its impregnable rampart, he scarcely at length returned, having been won over by the monks with much prayer and given much security. And when very many of all those flowing together, as much from distant as from neighbouring regions, hasten in rivalry to see him for so unheard-of a miracle *, as they go away they congratulate themselves on having bestowed some benefits on him [x]. And this is what St. Faith, as we said, had said to him in the vision: A thousand men, whom you have never seen, will give to you; putting a finite number, as is the custom in the Scriptures, for an infinite.

[16] [but he is afterwards brought back to Conques, where various miracles are worked in him.] Further, finally, that he might become better known and more settled in the place, the abbot Arlaldus [y] of good memory, now some time deceased, and the concordant opinion of the brethren, set him over the selling of the wax, which superabounds there by the more copious hand of God. Whence, when he had gathered manifold gain, he began, as human nature is, to grow insolent, and having got a woman unchaste to his mind, at once gave over to oblivion the dignity of the miracle worked in him: but, lest he should carry this off unpunished, suddenly the avenging condemnation of the holy Virgin was at hand, which, blinding the man in one of his eyes, yet not uprooting it entirely, brought him back to the remedy of penance, restoring him to light entire. But presently the same man, when again and again he fell back into his accustomed wallowing-place, divine vengeance * following, lost the light of one eye, and, repenting, recovered it; and as often as this has already happened, so many chapters of miracles we could have noted beforehand, had we not had the care of avoiding excess. At last, however, when he had fallen into the same thing without intermission, he lacked the office of both eyes. Wherefore, that he might repent more perfectly of his offences [z], having shaved his beard and his head tonsured, he gave himself over to the order of clerics [aa]; which thing, although he had done it as an ignorant and illiterate man, yet it so sat with the divine loving-kindness that he deserved to take up again the sight of his eyes. The same man, however, after so many scourges of chastisement, impatient of lust, is said to have fallen into the same filth, no bodily vengeance however following. He therefore, now old, reduced to the utmost vileness and want on account of the deeds of his base conduct, is now fed with the public alms of the brethren, and, content with a small and usually an evening allowance, rejoices only in the relief of his hunger, secure from the annoyance of all levity.

[17] I call to witness therefore the truth of divine providence, without any colouring of falsehood, [Nothing in this narrative was invented by him, but things learned by many peoples] that I received from the mouth of Witbert himself what is contained in this writing, and that I have not added more than is fair for the sake of ornament; nor do I think besides that I could go away unpunished if I suppose that the very beloved and perpetual friend of God, St. Faith, rejoices in the favour of a lying pen, who, it is established, underwent the deadly sentence of martyrdom for the truth, which is Christ. Finally, since it is established that some, whose authority is received as sufficiently fit, described with most skilful care prodigious things, although much older than their own age, content with the mouth of one relater only, who nevertheless had not been present at the thing done, why then should I suffer a thing done in my age, which I also saw with my own eyes, and to which Auvergne [bb], the Rouergue [cc], and the Toulousain country [dd], and the other peoples of those places give invincible testimony, to be void of perpetual memory, as far as the office of our profession goes? especially since the very negligence of writers, as we set forth some while ago, almost violently compels so tiny a manikin to presume upon so perilous and so arduous a matter.

[18] For if anywhere in this country even a rare grammarian were made known, Bernard protests that he has written. whether by the sloth of laziness I know not, or by ignorance of dictating (since indeed very many glory in the profession of the art who by their very effect by no means show themselves such), he either of his own accord neglected to describe such a thing, or, ungrateful for his own wit, is wholly ignorant of it. Therefore I have decided rather to be accused of audacity than to incur the guilt of negligence, while I study to note down in writing, with truth just now fresh, that which could in no way, if it were kept to be written for posterity, be held without the calumny of doubt or the loss of truth: and that this matter might be free from doubt on every side, the divine mercy did not heal the often mentioned Witbert at once when he was deprived of his eyes, but, as was said above, suspended him from health for a whole year, and by the art also of buffoonery marked him out to very many of his provincials as deprived of eyes, and, marked out to all, at last healed him; in which there was worked a miracle in nothing inferior to that which is read in the Gospel of the man born blind, and even much more wonderful; since indeed the Truth Himself promised that His followers would do greater things assuredly than Himself, saying: "He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father [ee]."

ANNOTATIONS.

p. The case of wonderful structure, of which we treated in the Commentary, num. 57, perhaps served then as the altar table on which the priest celebrated.

q. A parish or village by the name of Spariacus, fairly near the monastery of Conques, I could find neither in Adrien de Valois in the Notitia Galliae, nor in the geographical Indexes of Bouquet and others, nor in the geographical Maps which we have.

r. That denarius and nummus are sometimes taken indiscriminately Du Cange rightly observes in the Lexicon under the word Denarius, and it is confirmed by the testimony of our Bernard, in which he presently adds that the six coins with an obol brought forth exceeded by one obol the number of denarii which Witbert had received in the vision. See more on denarii and obols in the praised Du Cange.

s. Bernard here designates the golden image of St. Faith, of which we treated in the Commentary, num. 56 and 57; which perhaps was customarily exposed to the veneration of the faithful on the feast day of the holy Martyr above the altar where the rest of her body was laid up.

t. Laurel berries are the smaller fruits of the laurel, of almost the same size as the smaller cherries.

u. Soldier, that is, a noble man, as is abundantly plain from what follows. Let the curious reader see more on this name in Du Cange in the Lexicon.

x. In the Labbe edition the following are lacking up to the words "Which thing" about the middle of num. 18.

y. This Arlaldus is the same abbot of Conques who in volume 1 of the enlarged Gallia Christiana, column 240, is called Arnaldus, who, as may be gathered from Bernard's words, died before the end of the 10th century.

z. So also Arnobius uses the verb poenitere personally, speaking thus on Psalm 37: In whom (the Lord) we repent of things past, we correct things present.

aa. Having received, as I conjecture, the Order of Porter or another of the Minor Orders.

bb. The Arvernian country or Alvernia, in French l'Auvergne, is an ample province of the kingdom of France, where formerly were the Arverni, peoples of Aquitaine, almost in the middle of the kingdom, having on the North the province of the Bourbonnais, on the East the county of Forez, on the West the Marche and the province of the Limousin, and on the South the Rouergue with the territory of Gévaudan. So Baudrand in the Geographical Lexicon, in whom see more about that region.

cc. See what we said above at letter a about the Rutenian district, to which it has pleased to add these things from Baudrand: The province of the Rouergue is bounded on the South by Languedoc, on the East by the Gévaudan, on the North by Lower Auvergne, and on the West by the province of Quercy.

dd. Whether by the Toulousain country Bernard wished to indicate Toulousain Gascony, of which Baudrand speaks, volume 2, page 361, or the very city of Toulouse, the celebrated city of Narbonensian Gaul, I do not dare to declare undoubtedly; although my mind inclines to believe that the Toulousain territory, or rather county, rather than the city alone, was designated by him here. However, since Bernard received the things which he relates not only from Witbert himself, in whom these prodigies were worked, but also appeals to the testimony of three provinces and other peoples to whom Witbert was known, and besides calls God to witness that he has narrated the thing as he heard it without any colouring of falsehood, I do not see why we should deny him credence, although he narrates wonderful and unusual things, as I also warned in the Commentary, last number.

ee. They are the words of Christ in John, chapter 14, verse 12.

* or "a certain"?

* Labbe: Concham

* Labbe omits "and"

* Labbe wrongly: priests

* Labbe: the highest

* Labbe adds: threateningly

* Labbe omits "him"

* Labbe: of whom

* Labbe: contractare

* Labbe: or

* Labbe: He finally

* Labbe: received

* supply "and she"

* Labbe omits "concerning himself"

* Labbe: present

* Labbe: through order

* Labbe wrongly: or

* Labbe: and deeply

* Labbe: fleshy

* Labbe: But

* Labbe: on him in his heart

* Labbe: to the full

* perhaps supply "they had",

* that is, by divine vengeance

CHAPTER II.

Of Gerbert, a similar miracle.

CHAP. II.

And because the goodness of God perfects right desires, and always heaps up the vows of the faithful, To his narrative credence it came about, divine providence disposing it, that what I had some while ago sought, eager to see it in one man, now too the same thing, incredible to say, even beyond hope, I see in two. I see, I say, Gerbert, his mutilated face re-formed by the novelty of an equal miracle; if I did not make mention of whom in the preceding letter, let it prick no one with scruple; for when I was first dictating about Witbert, who had been specifically asked about by me, and had decided not to hear any other miracle in any way at all until I was disengaged from the one, it happened that at the close of the miracle, now almost finished, they offered me this Gerbert also, unknown and unexpected; namely, the former is held to have been divulged by far more celebrated report, inasmuch as about six lustra ^b have now passed since such a thing happened to him as a young man. But the other, of whom we now have the discourse in hand, asserts that not more than three years have passed for him.

[20] Bernard wins by various proofs. By how many arguments I anxiously tracked down the truth of this matter, it is too tedious to unroll; for besides the testimony of those who stand by, ready either to swear to me upon the pledges of the holy Martyr, or to bear the fiery ordeal ^c, you may still see the old scars of the wounds and the deformity of the torn skin around the eyes bristling; namely, both the thing had been done at the dark beginning of the night, and he himself, withdrawing his head from the hands of the wicked, was tossing it hither and thither; whence those wounds, which he then received before the digging out of his eyes, give fuller credence to the statements of the aforesaid witnesses. Let no one therefore doubt of the truth, nor let anyone think that I narrate things not searched out, or devise anything false from my own heart, nor * imitate a fantastic spirit, where God ought to be named: otherwise it would be better for me to be entirely silent than to adulterate the word of God with deceit. And what I have proposed is of this kind.

[21] While Gerbert strives to free three men unjustly detained There was a certain Unigo ^d in the district of Le Puy, governing a castle called Calmilliacum, a most inhuman man and of most ferocious nature. When he was once, with the tyranny of his accustomed cruelty, holding in unworthy captivity three men from the land of St. Mary of the church of Le Puy ^e, and was obstinately swearing with a forward oath, or rather, as the outcome of the matter will presently teach, forswearing, that they would not now escape thence except by hanging, it happened that a certain Gerbert, of no obscure reputation for his rank, passed alone before the stocks ^f by which they were held by the feet; and because they knew him to be a man of mercy, as one who had already redeemed some such with his own money for the love of God alone, crying out with one voice they entreat that, for the love of Christ and of His holy Mother Mary and likewise of St. Faith the martyr, he would help them as quickly as possible, lest they perish, if in any way he could. And he, already a year before, while he was going through the district of Rodez on an expedition, had made a detour by St. Faith, not indeed for the sake of prayer, but to see the enlightened Witbert, whose reputation he had heard long since, but whom he had not seen up to then, and had presented him with coins, as his means smiled on him.

[22] And so thereafter he cultivated St. Faith within the bowels of love with a special love above all the Saints. [for the love of St. Faith, he himself, as a traitor, is punished with the loss of his eyes,] Whence, when these cried out to him so anxiously and made mention of St. Faith, he could not endure, even at the exchange of his life, not to help them as much as he could (so great an affection for the honey-flowing name entered within the inner chambers of his heart); for at once wholly moved in the bowels of pity and his face wet with tears, hastening as he could, he sought a pair of very sharp knives, and brought them hidden under his cloak ^g, giving also ropes that would reach the height of the wall, restraining his benefits with this condition, that, if they were captured again, they should not ruin him by confessing. But they at once, impatient of delay, hastening untimely before night, the friend of theft, came on, cut the stocks and too incautiously seized upon flight of the head; but, again made manifest by the hostile light and captured, when it was more strictly inquired who of them was the author of their liberty, Gerbert is made manifest. And so, to speak in my manner, caught in a good crime, he is also accused by the impious lord of being about to be the betrayer of the castle. What more? Not suffering himself to wait for the morrow, at the very border of day and night he threateningly and inexorably orders his eyes to be cut out by most violent tearing. Without delay, hemmed in by his unwilling fellow soldiers, and thrown to the ground, long resisting, as he was of most outstanding strength, and manfully twisting his head, with much difficulty at length he is mutilated of his eyes. In which struggle such wounds were inflicted on him around the eyes by the wavering fingers, that anyone content with this testimony alone would readily give credence.

[23] Further, those who had been brought back into captivity, by the grace of God, experienced no loss of harm to themselves; do not doubt that this happened so well to them through the merits of St. Faith. In that hour that wretched man, utterly hating his own life, goes to the countryside to drink goat's milk ^h (for it is reported that if anyone affected with a fresh wound should take it, he will at once be dissolved in death); and when no one presumed to give it to him, and therefore, that he might perish failing from hunger, he passed the nights for eight continuous days and nights fasting also from other food, on the last of the nights, as in an ecstasy, a little forgetful of himself, he beholds as it were a virgin of ten years ⁱ appearing, of joyful and inexpressibly lovely aspect, in gilded clothing and surrounded with a variety of inestimable artifice; who, looking at him more closely, seemed to fix eyes in his extinguished brow with her right hand, her left hand being placed under his neck. He, at once roused from sleep, leaping from the bed with a headlong bound, strives to fall down in her presence at the sacred feet. And when she vanished and was not at all found, he protests himself wretched, and fills the whole lodging with an enormous clamour. His two servants ^k therefore being awakened, and asking what such a complaint meant, he indicates that he had seen the lordly form of the Virgin, and that she had re-formed his eyes for him, and that on this account he would at once set out for Conques *. But they, suddenly carried away into laughter, reckon the conception of their senior ^l as the height of folly, who thought that he too was to be enlightened after the manner of the enlightened Witbert. He however, rising at dawn on the morrow, the cloud of all his sorrow being driven away, was made so cheerful, and rejoicing, that you would easily have perceived him to have been divinely relieved; and at once asking for food, he was refreshed.

[24] as in fact after some days he recovered his eyes, And after some days, not forgetful of this apparition, he ordered himself to be led to the sacred monastery of the abbey of Conques. But the servants, as has been said, reckoning the undertakings of their senior as madness, or rather disdaining them, holding the commands of the blind man in neglect, at last depart from him, as from one who falls when fortune flees. True it is therefore that adverse fortune uncovers the false faces of friends. He however, by no means distrusting the mercy of God, sustained by the support of certain friends, accomplishes the desired journey. And arriving at the monastery, he invokes there the help of the Almighty, and having returned to his lodging, he began now to see somewhat. But he, perceiving the miracle, when he boasts indiscreetly of the gift of God, is again wrapped in darkness, before dinner was yet completed. After this, giving himself for some days to prayer, by the most kindly intervention of St. Faith, made whole in sight and eyes, he deserved most perfectly to receive the former comeliness of his face: and thereafter, striving with the greatest effort to return again and again to the former life of warfare, he was at once hindered divinely.

[25] and afterwards served God in the monastery of St. Faith, At last, when he had once been persuaded by the renowned Theotberga ^m, wife of Count Pons, and was refusing the yoke of her service, since it is manifest, she said, that St. Faith worked this miracle in you not only that you should return to be again imperilled amid the waves of worldly warfare, but that, clinging to her in perpetual familiarity, you should emerge to be saved into the harbour of perpetual glory, he no longer showed himself rebellious, nor undertook to go against the divine will, having been vehemently rebuked and salutarily edified by the wise matron. For which reason he now serves God and His Saint in the same place with most devoted service, content with the prebend ⁿ of the monks according to his measure, and in our time a man of composed character and sincere conversation. Whence up to now the elders of the place have made good use of him, whom, obedient in all things, he cherishes with an excessive affection of love. You might see the gems of the pupils glittering amid the old scars of the wounds, and the eyes, restored against nature in the manner of their former nature, shining not as of glass but as of flesh. Nevertheless, lest, perhaps corrupted at some time by insolence or by the ill-persuading counsel of his relatives, as human frailty is, he should wish to return among the secular, the left of his eyes afterwards by the divine will began to run down, the light only being put to flight.

[26] [St. Faith taking care that he should have no occasion of returning to secular warfare.] In which, O St. Faith, the praiseworthy compassion of your goodness appears, who are no less solicitous to heal in soul those whom you heal in body; and therefore you withdraw the outer eye of the body from the light, that the inner eye of the soul may become brighter. This miracle also, faithful ones, engrave on the tablets of your heart, and praise the merits of St. Faith the martyr, and strive as much as possible to imitate them by the exhibition of good works; run together to her sepulchre, and faithfully ask for the salvation of your souls. For it does not escape the understanding of human reason that she who so copiously grants the benefit of health in the lower part of man, that is, in the body, will also more copiously bestow it in the more excellent, that is, in the soul, if anyone asks rightly.

ANNOTATIONS.

declares. What if perhaps one should read Podemniacum for Camilliacum? In that case that Unigo could have been among the ancestors of those who laid waste and burned the lands, villas and castles of the church of Le Puy, carried off booty and killed men, as may be seen in volume 2 of the History of the House of Auvergne, page 66, and who also, as is asserted in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc, page 492, ordered pilgrims setting out for the church of Le Puy to be captured, and then compelled them to be ransomed with money.

* or "or";

* or "about to set out";

CHAPTER III.

One who unjustly rushes upon a monk of St. Faith is punished by a fall and death: a girl refusing to rise before the image of St. Faith is contracted in her limbs, and, repenting of the deed, is healed. The blind daughter of a widow is divinely given sight.

CHAP. III.

The miracle which I am about to write is also greatly to be recalled by the faithful and to be dreaded by the enemies of God. [While upon a monk of St. Faith, who was making a journey for the sake of business,] A certain Monk of the same Congregation, by name Bergandus ^b, before he assumed the most sacred habit, had granted his patrimony by hereditary right to God and St. Faith. For which reason, when recently, namely in this year, at the pressing time of the harvest, he was going there to oppose lawfully, on the ground of the aforesaid cession, a certain worthless invader, it happened that a certain Raieno of the castle of Albin ^c, which is situated in the district of Rodez, driven by I know not what necessity, sallied forth with thirty horsemen, and, having moved already twice three miles from the same, saw from afar the monk, riding by chance with his companions, passing crosswise the same road which he was keeping to. And when, having asked those standing round who those passers-by were, he found out, presently, a pretext being feigned, gnashing with his mouth, pale in colour, he threatened most forwardly to carry off their horses. Indeed he had long been excommunicated by the aforesaid congregation of monks for the enormity of the evils which he had inflicted on them ^d, bound in the knot of which curse he still remained. Why should I detain you with the words of his forwardness, why with the storms of his threats in narrating, when you have long been waiting to hear the outcome of the matter, what it was?

[28] [a certain man, by name Raieno, rushed unjustly, he, falling from his horse, perishes,] At once the unhappy man, blinded by wretched cupidity, puffed up with the arrogance of pride, and raging irrationally with the heat of fury, revering neither God nor His Saint, most vehemently urges with his spurs the beast of unbridled speed, and with headlong course hastens most violently to rush forthwith upon the innocent, when, divine vengeance preventing him, the horse, its haunches raised to the stars and its neck pressed down to the depths, fell with a deadly fall. And the rider, flying ahead no small distance, perished with his neck twisted and his head broken into pieces; and he who was hastening to harm, or wholly to forestall by destruction, a brother of good obedience, himself first, receiving by divine judgement the sentence of death, is sent back to Orcus, made a companion of the dwellers below, or the prey of demons; and another fellow of his, having swiftly followed him, wishing however, as they say, to break off the coming encounter, in the same place too, although on level ground, slips rather dangerously, and, only his sword-point being broken, he himself with his horse escaped unharmed by heavenly discernment. You would rejoice, scholastic, that pride, no longer imaginally, as you read in the book of Prudentius on the Psychomachia ^e, but presently and bodily, lay then there overthrown by the whirlwind of its own speed, and cast down from the lofty summit of its glory, was irreparably sunk into the infinite pit of the abyss which the fraud of sin had secretly prepared.

[29] Further, that monk indeed beheld the fall from afar, [and his brother, wishing to avenge the death of the dead man, suddenly perishes in war.] but, ignorant of the cause and end of the matter, went securely whither he was going, and, having vigorously accomplished his business, returns home back whence he had come. At length the brother of the aforesaid Raieno, by name Hector ^f, sought to avenge himself on him as guilty of homicide, and inexorably threatened to tear him limb from limb. But forestalled by heavenly vengeance, he suddenly fell in war. Understand these things, you who are proud of heart, and, recovering at some time from your malignity, learn to do right, lest the hour of judgement seize you untimely, or sudden destruction overwhelm you uncorrected. For injustice does not always prevail, nor is the divine judgement a cheap thing.

CHAP. IV.

[30] Nor must we entirely omit, or else add more concerning the more important miracles of the infirm. For since a manifold miracle was worked in her ^g, A certain girl, previously healed divinely through St. Faith, let us therefore speak of a certain poor girl, who, weakened in the framework of all her limbs, had been brought into the monastery of St. Faith, where she had so wholly received the solidity of her joints that no trace of contraction at all remained in her. She afterwards, living for some while in the same village, redeemed her own livelihood by the practice of labour, being poor; and not long after, the severity of vengeance follows the work of mercy; the supernal truth avenges what proud contumacy offended. This, therefore, does not disagree with what was set forth above about vengeance.

[31] For meanwhile, when on a certain fast of proclaimed affliction the venerable image ^h was being carried out of doors also in procession with an enormous press of the promiscuous sex, [while she refuses to rise before the image of St. Faith, she is again contracted in her limbs,] and all, according to custom, leaping forth from their own little houses, fell down before it, and also very many from the neighbourhood flew to meet it, the mistress of the aforesaid girl, at whose weaving she served, began more earnestly to warn her, and insistently to rebuke her, that, leaving her task, she should rise for the procession. But she, neither pricked by the fear of the Lord, nor delighted by the resonance of those singing divine praises, utterly neglected the voice of her mistress warning her, as though out of excessive zeal for her work, and at once in that very hour, heavenly indignation striking, the woman began miserably to be twisted through all the spaces of her limbs; so much so that, as she was sitting bent together and bowed, she was entirely contracted, bereft of the offices of her sinews, not able to throw off the implements of the loom, the little shuttle ⁱ itself clinging to her clenched fist.

[32] Then she who, growing insolent on account of the greatness of the divine benefit, had become proud, and at length, repenting of the deed, is divinely cured. at once, croaking for excessive anguish with what voice she could, humbly confessed herself guilty before St. Faith; nor yet could the torments cease even for a short space, until she, carried by the labour of bearers along the whole way of the procession behind the golden reliquary, returned into the monastery; where, keeping watch for some nights in the sacred vigils, the merits of the glorious Martyr supporting her, she deserved again to be raised up from contraction. In which matter every scandal of that image was emptied, which no one could dishonour without harm to himself. Nor is it strange if that little coffer is held worthy of honour on account of reverence for the pledges of so great a Martyr, who with the dignity of her sacred mind graces even the order of the angels.

CHAP. V.

[33] And because I deserved, the Lord granting, to see, as has been said, something worked divinely in the aforementioned monastery, The blind daughter of a widow suddenly given sight, it pleases me to bring that same thing into the midst. A certain widow, among the other pilgrims who had flowed together there from divers parts, was passing the night there for the health of her blind daughter. To which daughter, keeping watch together with her mother, the light which she had lost was most wholly restored in the first watch of the night by the virtue of St. Faith. When the keepers and some of the monks who were keeping watch there according to the custom of their turn ^k saw it done, at once they begin together to run with swift course to my lodging. And because they knew me to be eager to see a new miracle, they strive in rivalry to relate the same, one killing another. Behold for you, happy Barnard, a miracle, they say, which you desired with the utmost wishes to be shown you by St. Faith before your departure; judging it unworthy, namely, that you who had come from afar to write miracles should not yourself see miracles. For the monks themselves had received me, when I set out the cause of my pilgrimage, with seemly hospitality, supplying all things necessary to my wish, and also appointing vigorous servants who should obey my instructions as long as I was there.

[34] and others cured of various infirmities. Presently therefore leaping swiftly from the bed on which I had then begun to lie, scarcely, I confess, in my senses for joy, with no slow step I go into the monastery, and I see the virgin seeing and discerning the lights of the candles, and also my hand bestowing a denarius on her, a very poor girl; which, having beheld it, she took up with thanksgiving. How great and what kind of things are continually done there by divine mercy concerning divers infirmities, it is not of our work to express, since a little before my arrival eleven sick persons, gravely afflicted with divers evils, were restored to most complete health in the time of one night only; nor do we give our labour to making an immense library of the things which are done there daily concerning the sick, but to publishing a small and precious volume ^l of those things which were done either for the vengeance of the wicked, or in such a way that they are held unheard of, a great part of these also being cut away. Nevertheless

of those things which I willingly leave aside out of zeal for brevity, or which I have still to hear, if they consult me afterwards, I shall add to the second little book.

ANNOTATIONS.

BOOK II.

CHAPTER I.

Of the woman who usurped the ring which another, dying, had left to St. Faith: of the wicked merchant punished: of the boy in whom a fourfold miracle was worked: of a blind and lame man divinely healed.

CHAP. VI.

There is a certain little town, contiguous to the village of Conques, over which, under the dominion of the monks, a certain Austrinus presided, whose successor we have seen some while ago; [A certain woman, wearing a ring previously promised to St. Faith, is dreadfully tortured,] yet the miracle which we begin to tell was not older than our age. This Austrinus, with a ring which his wife, by name Stephana *, had promised, dying, to St. Faith, betrothed another, by name Avigerna ^a, reckoning the words of his former wife utterly as those of a woman raving. But afterwards the heavenly justice condemned the finger of forward negligence, which was displayed painted with gold of another's right, with the swelling of intolerable pain; so much so that a swollen pustule, with flesh growing over it, covered almost the whole ring, so namely that the ring could not be cut with iron applied without harm to the finger. And when the remedies of the physicians summoned to check this force of evil despaired, and the effectiveness of the suffering could now in no way be borne, recourse is had to the aid of divine help; an open confession of the injurious fault is made; the weak woman is led down to the sacred mausoleum of the holy Martyr.

[36] [but at length, the help of St. Faith being suppliantly invoked, she is freed from her evil.] There, when she continues two nights in assiduous vigils, a third is added, which was a Sunday; in which the force of the pain vexed the sufferer so much more savagely that the most wretched voice of the crying woman did not cease through the whole space of the night. At last, when the praises of the morning lauds were already thundering forth, from the high-throned seat of the supreme Majesty the visitation of kindly compassion descended; not suffering such grievous crosses of punishments to rage longer in human flesh, nor the tears of the penitent to come even to despair. For when the mournful matron had by chance blown her nose, the ring which we mentioned above, the health of the fingers unharmed, as though shot from a most powerful ballista ^b, gave a crack far off on the pavement. And therefore that Sunday was celebrated with an enormous dance of joy by all the people of that village; since they saw their fellow countrywoman and neighbour snatched from a deadly torment by the help of St. Faith. And certainly many and innumerable things of this kind are related of St. Faith even through divers places of the earth *, which no one will suffice now not only to write but even to tell; for it is impossible either to unfold in words or to set down in letters all the mighty works of St. Faith.

CHAP. VII.

[37] A merchant, an inhabitant of the district of Auvergne ^c, came to St. Faith for the sake of prayer; A merchant, unjustly carrying off a candle previously offered to St. Faith, when he had seen the very easy trade in wax (for on account of the frequency of the pilgrims offering candles it is held much cheaper), he at once recalls to memory the known skill of his art, thinking thus within himself: By how easy a gain, if I, fool, had known these things again, could I have made myself rich and established my affairs. But what ignorance has hitherto put off , this watchful recourse and the frequent return of the repeated journey will accomplish henceforth in a short space of time; I will gird myself therefore manfully and undertake the beginning of the matter. This then being arranged, and the seller having been approached, he most diligently appraises very many weights of wax, and, having counted out ten solidi ^d, buys a huge mass and stored it in little sacks; and already rejoicing that he would gain at the least fourfold, he was thinking thus with himself: Ah, ah, the beginning is going well; what then, if I return several times? But now the outcome of the matter ought not to delay us. There remained, therefore, a fine candle, which ^e he could not fit within the rest of the heap. This the man of cupidity put into his bosom, in such a way namely that the thicker part ^f was held beneath his girdle, while the thinner projected through the opening of his garment up to his beard. But the avenging omnipotence of the supernal Watcher did not bear the audacity of the robber any further. For the candle which I mentioned, kindled with the sudden fervour of divine fire, began vehemently to burn the very enclosures within which it was held shut, and to send forth flame-vomiting vapours together with a smoking whirl; so much so that, a globe of glittering sparks quivering, his beard shone again, and the hair above was burned with a crackling sound, nor did the linen shirt protect the skin of his belly, since even his hinder parts were burning with circling flames.

[38] You would be astounded at the horrible bellowings of the madman, the noise of his kicking, it being divinely kindled, he is burned so long, until he pours back the wax. the gnashing of his teeth, the rolling of his eyes, and the immoderate distortion of his whole body, when the wretch, suffering intolerably, was carried headlong hither and thither, like a snake struck unexpectedly, which, in a winding coil, now gathers itself into a sphere, now darts with swift trail, and stretches out its twisting neck, seeking flight; but, weakened and not able, again hostile to its striker, it twists its bloody eyes and hisses with its mouth; not otherwise this wretch, running about hither and thither, drives himself forward and back, now prone, now on his back; nor could he in any way breathe, whom a greater force was driving; but only * the remaining vein of human sense brought the wretch back to penitence, who, at once running with an enormous cry to the sepulchre of the most loving Martyr, poured back all the wax there no sooner than the penal fire vanished. Nor does the man complain of the loss of money, provided only that he could escape from the torment. These things, then, being done, I should by no means think I offend if I proclaim the praiseworthy and wonderful goodness of St. Faith in this also, that, lest the cheapness of trade should fail the pilgrims, she chastised the wickedness of avarice.

CHAP. VIII.

[39] Nor do I think that should be passed over, that among the many bodies of the Saints which according to the custom of that province ^g are carried to councils ^h, At the image of St. Faith a boy from birth St. Faith, as though holding the chief place, shines forth with the glory of miracles, of which, since they are many, we think it enough to note only two, lest we seem to weave too odious a volume. The most reverend Arnaldus ⁱ, bishop of the Rutheni, had called together a synod of his parishioners ^k only, to which the bodies of the Saints were carried in reliquaries or golden images from the divers congregations of monks or canons: and the host of the Saints was distributed in tents and pavilions in the meadow of St. Felix ^l, which is separated from the city by as it were one mile only ^m, and there were there besides these many pledges of the Saints, whose number will not be commended in the present page.

[40] There, among other things, in a certain distinguished and wonderful the goodness of the Almighty deigned to glorify His Handmaid. a blind, lame, deaf and dumb one is divinely cured, A boy blind and lame, deaf and dumb from birth, carried by his parents and placed beneath the image, which was held honourably on high, having stayed there about the interval of one hour, deserved divine medicine; and, presented with the grace of most complete soundness, he rose up speaking, hearing, seeing, and also happily walking about with unstumbling foot. And when the din of the common people resounded over such a prodigy, the elders of the council, who were sitting a little more remote, began to inquire among themselves, saying: What means this popular outcry? To whom the countess Bertildis ⁿ, answering, said: What else would this be, but that St. Faith is jesting , as she is wont? Then all, having found out the matter, filled as much with astonishment as with joy, stirred the whole assembly to divine praises, often recalling for excessive gladness that the venerable matron had said that St. Faith was jesting.

CHAP. IX.

[41] Again, a certain blind and lame man, that he might receive health, as also another blind and lame man. was passing the night before the image of St. Marius ^o the confessor, whose virtues, wonderfully and widely spread abroad, are held most famous by many peoples. And when it was now dawning *, a sudden sleep fell upon him, and it seemed to him that a voice

of one saying: Go to St. Faith, for it is not granted that you can be saved from your infirmity except through her merits. Roused by this answer, the sick man began to creep thither with what strength he could; and when he had arrived at the place, at once the suffrages of the holy Martyr's oblation were present to him from elsewhere [p]. For when the man thrust himself to the very entrance of the pavilion, at once, his veins growing green and his sinews invigorated, he deserved to be made straight from crooked *: for also, the veil of the pupils being broken, the most serene light follows the preceding eruption of blood; nor did anything of health fail him whose limbs the right hand of the heavenly Physician had handled.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Labbe reads: the suffrages of delay were absent, and the sense is that the suffrages of St. Faith were present without delay, by which that blind and lame man divinely received both sight and walking; which reading is plainer.

* in Labbe "Stephana" is lacking

* Labbe: spaces

* Labbe: Arvernensis

* Labbe: may have put off

* Labbe: hood

* Labbe: into the web

* Labbe: yet

* Labbe: idle

* in Labbe "and" is lacking

* supply "prodigy"

* Labbe: jocatur

* Labbe: dilucesceret

* Labbe: when

* Labbe: into

* Labbe: erect

CHAPTER II.

Of him who was freed from hanging on the gallows by the help of St. Faith: of him to whom St. Faith brought a hammer to break his iron fetters.

CHAP. X.

Among the other things which were told me about St. Faith by divers relaters as I was still going on, as one searching with the highest desire, A certain man condemned to the gibbet for a theft not committed by him, this which I now undertake was resounding in the mouth of the whole people with festive and most celebrated praise; which afterwards, having more certainly searched it out from those who had been present at the thing done, we have handed down to lasting memory . A certain very noble man, by name Hadimarus, surnamed of Avallena ^a (for a mountainous region of the district of Limoges is so called), had had among his numerous household a client who, having stolen some horses from him, had fled. When at length at another season he had come upon him by an unexpected chance, he at once tore out the little plums of his eyes and then allowed him to go away free; but another, attached to him by the right of companionship, yet not a partner in the aforesaid robbery, he binds with wretched knots as though guilty of an equal crime; and it profited him nothing to resist and deny knowledge of the theft; nay, when he cried out by St. Faith, the cruel man gave forth such an answer: What else further do criminals do, but, when they have been caught, * call upon St. Faith as their patroness? But without doubt this cry will have to be punished with the penalty. Joined, therefore, to the running of a horse, he drives him home, and consigns him to custody in the subterranean and dark prison of a deep storehouse, being about indeed to hand him over on the morrow to be hanged on the gallows.

[43] [he understands from St. Faith, whose help he had implored, that he will not die by that penalty;] What then should the wretch do? The whole night in that horror of darkness, fearful and suspecting, he remained a stranger to sleep, not ceasing to entreat God and His Saint with what words he knew. About the middle of the night he sees coming to him from the direction of the door a girl of ineffable beauty, supposing her to be some chambermaid, except that neither candle nor any instrument of a lamp bore before her the light with which she was surrounded. She, approaching, began, as though ignorant, to ask him for what cause he was held imprisoned. And when he set out everything, and afterwards with voice however asked her, she answered that she was St. Faith. And do not, she said, desist from what you have begun, nor have any distrust; but always have in your mouth both the name and the cry of St. Faith: nevertheless, what they have threatened you with, tomorrow you will undergo the gibbet: but the Almighty lives, who will call you back from the very jaws of gaping death. Having gone through these and such things, the heavenly power went back: and he passed the rest of the night in great trembling on account of the unaccustomed vision of the Divinity. But his mind could not be troubled, whom the good part had visited.

[44] [and in fact, hanged three times, he is as often loosed from the gibbet divinely unharmed;] Morning having come, being led out thence, he is set before the tribunal: but the more frequently the man named St. Faith, the more hastily the malicious mind hurried on the gibbet. They go therefore to the place of punishment; nor was it enough for the senior ^b to command his servants to commit the crime , unless he himself also went off , a great cavalcade accompanying him. Nor ever did he who was being led bound, as he had been forewarned, abandon the name of St. Faith, until the way of his voice, constricted by linen nooses, his throat being suffocated, was shut off; presently then they abandon him hanging; and when they had now gone a little distance in returning, they look back, they see the gallows empty. Then, returning with great uproar, they lift the man up again, bound more hard; and again also, when on returning they looked back, they perceive the gallows-bird slipped to the ground a second time. And already some were saying it was the virtue of St. Faith, when the cruel beast, rebuking them threateningly with reproach, compelled them to be silent. Then, squeezing the man's throat, as is reported, much more hard and more monstrously with renewed withes ^c, he watched him hanging so long until he unhesitatingly thought him strangled. And yet, when, now returning *, he had begun to descend along the slope of the mountain, the ill-anxious man could not endure not to turn back his grim eyes, and, the miracle being seen, he runs back, and finding the man loosed and unharmed, he hesitated what to do: but the others, now manifestly with one mind proclaiming the virtue of St. Faith, cry out that their lord is guilty of a most wicked deed, and that they will no longer suffer so unworthy a crime.

[45] The senior therefore, seeing the miracle which had been done , [which being seen, the unjust judge, repenting of the deed, sets out to St. Faith.] led by repentance, began to beseech him to pardon him. He, by no means acquiescing, says rather that he will go to St. Faith, to set forth this injury. Then the aforesaid Hadimarus, perceiving the man's obstinacy, himself also with fifteen youths * of his house hastened barefoot and unarmed to the holy Virgin. You might see both Hadimari (for to both

that was the name) contending before the sacred image as before a tribunal, the one accusing, the other confessing his sin and offering amends. But the elders of the place interceding, a lawful amends having been dictated for the man's death *, made concord between them. This miracle, already heard commonly by popular relation, as I said, the concordant account of the monks afterwards related to me more truly ^d. And that they might make fuller credence for their statements, they summon in testimony a certain young man, by name Gerbert ^e, cousin of the aforesaid Hadimarus, who had come with him to Conques after his rescue from hanging; and I could also have seen Hadimarus himself, if I had had space either to await him called by envoys, or to extend my journey to him; nor did they say that more than five years had flowed away since this had happened, and that he himself was surviving.

CHAP. XI.

[46] Again they related to me with one mind a very famous thing about another man, A certain captive freed from prison in a wonderful manner. who, when he was afflicted with long custody of prison, and cried out incessantly to St. Faith, presently St. Faith appeared to him while he was awake; and when, being asked, she named herself by the name of St. Faith , at once offering a very old little hammer ^f, covered with scaly rust, she orders him to strike his fetters with it , then, laden with the fragments of the iron, to set out quickly to Conques; and he, carrying out her instructions, the obstacle of the prison being passable, without human hindrance, relying on divine protection, made straight for St. Faith , and, not ungrateful, rendered great thanks to God and to His Saint for a great benefit. The little hammer was hung up there for about three years, that a token of so great a miracle might not be lacking to pilgrims. I was very angry at this, that they destroyed the little hammer also for the aforementioned work. Wonderful to say! Whence, do you think, had St. Faith a corporeal little hammer? But we ought not to estimate a divine work by human reason, but faithfully believe the deed.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Labbe: custom

* Labbe: we hand down

* Labbe adds: at once

* Labbe: finally

* Labbe: to the voice

* Labbe: of the sun

* or "had been present"?

* Labbe: Nor

* Labbe: wooden

* Labbe wrongly: returning (plural)

* Labbe: worthy

* Labbe: setting forth

* Labbe: Ephoebis

* Labbe: letho

* Labbe: holy Faith

* Labbe: to strike

* Labbe: made for by the straight track

* Labbe: had destroyed

CHAPTER III.

Of him who, forewarned by St. Faith, escaped by a leap through the window of a tower: and of the wonderful ass.

CHAP. XII.

Being about to narrate a wonderful thing, memorable to all ages, and brief even for fastidious readers, In the district of Rodez, I faithfully beseech God, the living fount of wisdom, that He may deign to pour the affluence of divine wisdom within the secret places of my breast, and to water the dryness of my sense with the dew of the Holy Spirit, so that I may be able to set forth the things which are true for the utility of those who hear in fitting and right speech, lest my statement, straying from the right track through empty things, should begin to deviate otherwise than the truth has it. A certain soldier, who was in captivity in the district of Rodez, in the castle of Perse, under the lordship of a certain Amblard, a very noble man ^a, hostages having been given for him, came secretly to St. Faith, as though to transact other business, as * he could. Then, at the appointed agreement, he took himself back into captivity, from which it will have to be told how after some time he escaped by divine visitation. But first the site and character of that land is to be recounted in a few words.

[48] of which a description is given, It is a country mountainous in every part, and also in places so lofty with rugged crags that the sight can scarcely be sated with the vastness of the height; but among these, where by chance a plain occurs, it is so fruitful in the yields of crops that no land has seemed to me more fertile in rich Ceres and the best Bacchus ^b. I suppose that this nobility has come to it from this, that it is more elevated than these our regions, and therefore more rigid with the savagery of winter cold, and is nearer the sun , being situated towards the Southern quarter, and therefore hotter with summer heat; namely, in summer, on account of the nearness of the sun, it boils over excessively with torrid heat; but in winter, on account of the height of the land, it is stiff with excessive colds, as where the South wind reigns with freer reins. Therefore, by the conflicts of a diverse nature, the more that land is pressed, the more its vice is cooked out, and the useless moisture sweats forth, and through this the land has been made the mother of a more joyful and sweeter growth: but because, as we have said, it differs from our soil by the dissimilarity of mountains and crags, therefore it has come about that the structure of the aforenamed town, founded on the solidity of a most lofty rock, rises far more eminent through the spacious void of the air. Further, the dwelling of the townsmen is on that side which seems more level and more habitable, having a citadel erected in a more elevated place, namely towards that quarter where one falls by a higher precipice; on which side also, in the highest upper storey of the tower, was the master's chamber, where the senior * lord himself, lulled to sleep with his household, was taking placid sleep in his breast. Outside this chamber, in the same upper storey, on the side of the rest of the stronghold, the captive whom I mentioned, bound at the legs with a ponderous mass of iron, was kept in the custody of three home-born servants.

[49] To him, who had long been crying out to her with complaining voices, a certain man, held in chains in a high tower, St. Faith warning him, and was now almost despairing, the guards being lulled to sleep, St. Faith appeared visible in bodily form. And when, being asked by him who she was, she answered that she was St. Faith, she forthwith added that she had been wearied by the insistence of his prayers, nay even compelled by his long crying, but had come sent by God, to free him. Why then, she said, do you weave long delays? Break through the middle of the chamber and slip out through the topmost windows of the tower. And when at the voice of her warning he had begun to crawl, the senior, awakening, ill at ease, noticed the motion of the tinkling iron. Then he orders with threatening authority the chambermaid, roused, to rouse the slow guards. When she had done this, and the little door being closed, she betook herself into the inner room. After the passing of some hours, behold, St. Faith, appearing anew, exhorts the man to set about the matter; and he, doing this at once, finding the door closed, goes back to bed with vain effort. Again also the senior, awakened by the clash of iron, sent back the maidservant as before. She, having performed the master's command, returning, by the will of God left the door of the bedchamber open.

[50] After these things, all being overpowered by a much heavier sleep, thence he leaps down without any injury to himself, behold St. Faith, manifested a third time, rebukes the man's cowardice more harshly and severely; and when he objected the hindrance of the door, and how grievously he bore having been already twice mocked; Do not, she said, doubt, for you will have a passable way, and God will help you. And he, trusting in God, began to move himself with what step he could, and so at length, the bedchamber having been penetrated with great difficulty, he halts at the very windows, vehemently dreading the height of the fall. Then St. Faith, still accompanying the man of wavering mind, and as though going before him attending * the way, began to exhort him manfully: Act, she said, confidently: you will not be able to escape now in any other way. Similarly once the Israelitish people, in vengeance for the crime of the city of Gibeah, warring down the tribe of Benjamin, before it had obtained the triumph, is read, the divine oracle warning it, to have laboured up to a threefold attempt ^c. At last he, placed in wretched peril, taking up boldness, and setting ^d his heart on the danger, first putting his feet out through the window, entrusts himself wholly to the vast precipice; but never did his hanging down cherish Sardanapalus ^e more softly and sweetly than the hardest rock received this man; so much, divine power supporting him, that he to whom nature had denied wings seemed plainly to fly, not to fall. Made more secure by this miracle, he did not hesitate to add the leap of a much deeper precipice also; for from the topmost crags, on which the whole mass of the citadel rested, rushing down on the lower ones, he glides down with a third leap to the most certain soil of the earth.

[51] and, an ass being found beyond expectation, Wonderful to say and terrible to hear, with what daring the human mind could ever have attacked so great a danger; for I myself too, in narrating such things, I confess, tremble all over with excessive horror. But He who willed to glorify His Saint with such a miracle gave to this man not to be terrified by so great a precipice; in which, although he received no injury, yet the crash of the struck-together fetters ^f in the first leap indeed reached the ears of the sleeper. Being awakened by which thing, the soldier, inflamed with excessive fury, announces the matter to his servants, blames them as guilty, judges them gallows-birds; finally he threateningly commands them to pursue the fugitive as soon as possible. They, holding the senior's instructions as ridiculous, promise that they will gather the fragments of the battered corpse on the morrow, in time enough. Yet by no means acquiescing in them, he ordered torches and lamps to be lit, and runners to go swiftly ahead by another side, where the descent was easier, and to seize the man. He, catching the brightness of the torches, and at the same time hearing now close by the clamour of those pursuing him, uncertain what to do, being weighed down on both feet with a very great weight of iron, yet, crawling with what force he could towards the refuge of a small wood which by the providence of God nature had brought close to the town, he strives, straining with all his strength, to drag himself along; nor was there need for him to be compelled by anyone, whom necessity itself commanded, nor was his slowness to be reprehended, who, as it seemed to him, went more sluggishly than a tortoise.

[52] sitting on it, he slips away in flight, And when he was labouring in the peril of this anxiety, and was now * gathering himself a little within the thickets of the little trees, in a wonderful manner he comes upon an ass ^g, in whose jaws, a girdle having been knotted for a halter, he sat on the asinine back in a woman's manner, his legs turned to one side, and of his own convenience

taking account rather, he set aside manly propriety. It would without doubt have been all over, if this ass had delayed the fugitive for the space of one moment. Never did a charger ⁱ or * a royal horse go with a more expeditious and more pleasant trot ^h than the ass passed through the middle of the region to that part where the fugitive would be thought less to be sought. Meanwhile the rider, not so much relying on security, repeatedly looks back, and turns his gaze, if perchance he could either hear or see anyone, until, nearly eight miles having now been covered, he saw himself sufficiently in safety. And it was already growing light, and already the dawn shining forth was compelling weary mortals to the exercise of labour. Then he, having tied the ass to a certain shrub, where he saw harder flints, turned aside a little from the path; receiving whose blow the iron rigidity gave an easy dissolution of itself in the manner of ice ^k. But in the meantime the heavenly ass vanished; for he, looking back, neither saw the animal itself, nor could he find anywhere at all even a trace of the animal, however much searching he pressed; but he found the girdle, as a proof of the miracle, where he himself had knotted it.

[53] Therefore he made straight for St. Faith on a foot journey . and makes straight for the monastery of St. Faith with his very chains. No fairer or more splendid spectacle entered the basilica of St. Saviour before this day, nor did the people of Conques ever look on anything more gladly, than that the most illustrious person of a noble man, and the tall stature of a most beautiful body, carrying a ponderous mass of iron on his shoulders, breaks through the surrounding troops of those keeping the solemnity , like a lion which, having broken its cage, laden on its neck with a great mass of chains, seeks again its native refuge of the forest. Then the man, before all the people, having laid down the burden there, presents with liberty the hostile load which he had carried captive on his neck, and, returned by a happy postliminy, gladdens the elders with all the people by the novelty of so great a miracle. Then he fills the minds of his friends, long held in suspense in grief, with the joy of his unexpected return; nor did that captivity bring any sadness after this , upon which followed neither loss of money nor harm of body.

[54] But what, do you think, is to be conjectured of that ass, The author's observation on this miracle. except that it was an angel of kindly virtue, manifested in the figure of a humbler beast of burden? Sitting upon which the Saviour Himself also, that He might humble the contumacy of worldly pomp, willed rather to be carried by a meaner conveyance, although He was the Lord high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. O great merit of one Girl! O admirable gift granted to one Woman! O admirable and ineffable grace shown to one Virgin, whose virtues can neither be noted by the pen nor now even be unfolded by the human tongue; for not only there, where she rests in the body, is St. Faith strong in miracles, but also, as I have learned from those who are present at her daily virtues, on land, on the sea, in prison, in infirmities, in many perils, and, as I myself have already in part proved, in various necessities, if anyone has entreated her with right heart, he will feel her present; and wherever St. Faith has a name, there too she has power, to the praise and glory of Christ, God almighty ^l.

ANNOTATIONS.

* in Labbe "of those who hear" is lacking

* Labbe: nor

* Labbe: whereby

* Labbe: should seem

* Labbe: to the sun

* Labbe: middling

* Labbe: which

* in Labbe "senior" is lacking

* in Labbe "and" is lacking

* Labbe adds: with

* in Labbe "he" is lacking

* Labbe: halted

* Labbe: striving after

* Labbe: struck

* Labbe: image

* Labbe: had produced

* Labbe: annisus

* Labbe omits "himself"

* Labbe: eapitot equus ac

* Labbe: intendit

* Labbe omits "person"

* Labbe adds: burst forth to the sepulchre

* Labbe: this

CHAPTER IV.

Another miracle of Gerbert. Likewise of a pilgrim captured and chained and freed by the sudden help of St. Faith.

CHAP. XIII.

Let that Gerbert ^a be recalled to memory, of whom we made mention some while ago in the preceding book, While Gerbert, already deprived of one eye, and whom, after the tearing out of his eyes, we said was enlightened after the manner of the enlightened Witbert ^b, namely by the provident and wonderful dispensation of the supreme Artificer, so that the virtue on which he had congratulated another, and whom it had befallen he had pronounced blessed beyond all things which are thought happy in the world, as he himself said, when it first befell him to see the aforesaid Witbert, this at last he might see done in himself, and might rejoice beyond hope in a similar happiness; and we wrote that nevertheless afterwards, lest, carried away at some time by insolence, he should further presume to return to the evil of the warfare he had abandoned, by the just counsel of God he lost the light of one of the restored eyes, the rest of the substance of the eye remaining intact, but retained the right one whole, and thereafter led a sincere life in tranquillity, and without anxiety about going back. The certainty of this miracle, as we heard and saw on the former journey, set down in writing most compendiously among the other things, we afterwards, having returned to our country, digested more at large and emended. But while intervals of some years, as I said a little before, had passed ^c, in which I had neither returned to Conques nor sent an embassy, there befell this Gerbert a miracle not unequal to the former.

[56] being attacked by a furious man, as a thief, he loses the other, healthy eye; For when he was one day walking before the square of the temple, and was waving the skin of a little lamb in his hand, as though for the sake of play, presently a certain burgess ^d of that town, Barnard (they call him Porcellus by surname), leaped upon him in a fury, and because he had lost a similar skin the day before, deluded by a false opinion, did not doubt that it was that very one *; whence, as he was drunk and incapable of sobriety, without any discernment of premeditation that most worthless man at once assails him with insults, and calling him the thief of his property, attempts on the spot vengeance even by a legal proof of the robbery. But the other, impatient of the insult unjustly cast at him (for rare and very few are the mortals who are not moved, even if they are deservedly dishonoured), answers like with like, and yields in nothing to his words; so on both sides, in the conflict of an intractable quarrel, one could hear every kind of insult thrown at one another, until it came to fists; while therefore they fought for some while with equal fortune, and neither yielded, that Barnard, whom a more savage fury was urging, tearing himself out of the engaged contest, began hastily to run back to arms. But, as is wont to happen at the moment of such haste, there did not chance to be arms at hand, but only a spit having been found, on which roasted meat had been cooked, he, violent, in a renewed conflict, thoroughly pierces ^e that healthy eye, and, the pupil being bored through ^f, scatters the rest of the little eye into particles. At last they are separated by the running together of the neighbours.

[57] Then Gerbert, his garment marked with fresh blood and deprived of both lamps, [but St. Faith promises that it will be restored to him; which being in fact recovered,] hastens into the church, led by another, redoubles his cries to heaven, and invokes the help of St. Faith. Finally, for three whole continuous months, every single night, he kept watch before the sanctuary, wearying everything with unconquered cries, and more insistently reproaching St. Faith. O St. Faith, lady of the people of Conques, why, he said, did you not guard the eye which once, torn out, you restored? Why did you not defend the poor wretch whom by your benefit you acquired as your peculiar servant? These and similar things he did not cease to repeat with assiduous voices, until the festivity of St. Michael ^g was at hand. On that night, therefore, which precedes the vigil, behold St. Faith, appearing in sleep, seemed thus to say to him: Go tomorrow after Vespers with the procession of the monks before the altar of St. Michael, and there God will restore your eye to you. On the morrow, therefore, at the hour at which he had been ordered, the man, not forgetful of the divine vision, accompanied the procession into the oratory of St. Michael, where, when they were singing the antiphon on the Gospel for the honour of the coming celebration, the heavenly Artificer, whose wisdom has found nothing difficult, deigning to supply the loss of His own handiwork, did not suffer the long tears of the sufferer and his suppliant vows to be poured out further in vain, re-forming a third time the substance of one eye already twice created, being about to re-form it a fourth time also on the last day of the great resurrection; nor yet is he to be believed to be going to have in that last regeneration more eyes than nature has given to the rest of mortals.

[58] And when, therefore, the sharpness of the new eye, gazing at all things around him, now clearly discerned the forms of those placed round about, he renders thanks to St. Faith, and not long after dies piously, before he burst into speech of so great joy, he himself first of all rushed with untamed course to the bell-ropes by the steps of the upper floor, which, supported by an arched wall ^h at the entrance of the monastery, lay below the altar already mentioned. The ministers devoted to this office, following him forthwith, delaying now nothing concerning the virtue shown from heaven, set in motion the whole peal of bells, and at the same time the whole choir thunders forth the Te Deum laudamus and the divine praises; there is a clamour and an ineffable joy, to which nothing in human affairs can be equally compared. He finally, after a small space of time had intervened, with so great joy and good

testimony, glorified by ineffable wonders, attains the bounds of life, translated without doubt to that interminable life in which the holy virgin and most glorious martyr Faith enjoys perennial gladness, having there too the fellowship of Garbert, from whom in this age, after the repair of his mutilated head, she did not suffer separation.

[59] Witbert still surviving, about whom Bernard adds some things. Him therefore I could not see on my second journey, because he had departed; but that older Witbert, who had had the surname of the Enlightened from the event, I still saw by the grace of God, very old, and weeping much over my return and saying: Now you return, lord father, and my helper both in substance and in counsel; I, now full of age and worn out with old age, know that I shall not see you enough hereafter in this life: may God and St. Faith render you the merit, who alone from afar undertook this care, that you should come to hear and retain her virtues; whose eyes I kissed three and four times for the dignity of the distinguished miracle, and, saying Farewell to him, went away. Further, if God by His mercy shall at some time bring me back to Conques, the same man still surviving, I shall not hold that thing any longer so cheap, nor foreign to my breast, as not to hand it down to perpetual memory in most celebrated writings, and make it memorable to all ages. Why should I not do so, since it is established that we have not heard of this worst of ages glorified elsewhere with so great a miracle? But now let the prolix discourse, keeping us in suspense from the things that remain by excessive delay, be closed with a timely end.

CHAP. XIV.

[60] Certain pilgrims, natives of the district of Limoges, going away to St. Faith, A certain pilgrim, unjustly bound with fetters and ropes, were passing near the castle of Oebalus ⁱ, which is called Torena ^k, whom there chanced to meet a certain townsman of the same town, their enemy, by name Gosbert, a cleric indeed by surname alone, but in act an earthly soldier, who, a pretext having at once been found, reduced them all into captivity. Lord Oebalus was by chance absent , whose wife then, but presently deserted by him through divorce, lady Beatrice ^l, having heard this, orders the soldier, if he wishes ever to have her benevolent, to let the Romei ^m go away at once, and by no means to detain them under constraint within the enclosures of the stronghold for the space of one hour. But he, not daring altogether to go against his lady's orders, said: These I will dismiss according to my lady's command, retaining this one only, who has shown himself more injurious to me, whom it is difficult to let go away unpunished; and if this does not so suffice her, let her know that she will not reproach what I am certain I would never do even for St. Faith; and so, the rest being dismissed, he orders that one man alone to be bound with fetters, which the rustic tongue calls BODIAS ⁿ; whose nails, hard blunted with a hammer so that that connection might become inextricable, of their own accord are broken, the very fetters also being shattered to pieces. Then, other fetters having been asked for in turn, the same was done. The same loss also befell the third, and he said: As I see, St. Faith, unless I take care by cunning, will carry off my enemy from me by force; but I will strive that the matter may turn out otherwise than she supposes.

[61] he is freed from these in a wonderful manner by the patronage of St. Faith, Then indeed, his arms having been bound crosswise before his breast with tight coils of cords, after this he had both palms, carried round the neck on either side, most violently bound back between the shoulders, and so, with bonds turning back under the armpits, his belly squeezed with raw knots, so much that by the manner of that unheard-of binding the wretch, thus constricted, was suffocated, so that his breath, through a slender vent, scarcely sufficed life for him. Shut up thus in a solitary room, he orders twelve lance-bearing men, whom he had found to be of equally mad mind, to stand insistently by him; who, if they should see him loosed by divine power, should at once, lest he should boast of having escaped alive, all together cut him down pierced through with one stroke. But after a short interval, he, brought to wretched anguish, thirsting, could with difficulty express this in words; so greatly had the hardness of the bonds obstructed the fibres of the organs of speech. Then one of the attendants whom I mentioned, water having been asked for, when he was pressing down the ensnared elbows under the throat, that, the chin being loosened, he might fit the draught to his mouth, that difficulty of the knots loosed itself of its own accord, only the little cords themselves clinging to the very arms on which they had been placed.

[62] And he, feeling himself divinely loosed, began most vigorously to flee from there. and, slipping out of prison unharmed, he makes for St. Faith. But they, at once, by the order of the senior, attacking him with their points to stab him, were at once so bound by the force of divine power that they stuck in the place, so that not one of them could even be moved, nor even give words at all to one another. And so suddenly the angel of the Lord constrained them, that they remained immovable, as if they were stone images. One only, amid the anguish of suffocation, giving the bellow of an obscene interjection, broke out with great difficulty into this word: Bah, he's going now; for the rest, he stood fixed and unmoved so long, until that other, a runaway *, took himself into safety with lady Beatrice. She on the morrow assigned him guides, as long as he should go far beyond the bounds of the castle, and take a safe journey; his name was Peter. Finally, reaching Conques with his companions, and there paying thanks to the Lord for his deliverance, afterwards he returned thence joyful to his own home, the bonds, which I said had remained hanging from his arms with loosened knots, being left in testimony of the virtue. About a year and a half after my second return from Conques, it befell me, on a certain business of lord William ^o, count of the Poitevins, to go to the court, in which, when I had seen lady Beatrice, sent there by her brother Richard [p], count of the people of Rouen, ardently seeking her conversation, I at once began to ask her about this miracle. Whose words, agreeing in all things with those of the monks of Conques, could be a probable argument, if anyone should doubt in other things also narrated to me by the same.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. That Richaredus is Richard, prince of the Normans, to whom Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, praised above more than once, sent a letter, which you may see in volume X of the Writers of Gallic Affairs, page 451.

* supply futem

* Labbe: had passed

* Labbe: Oebalius

* Labbe: had gone away

* Labbe: would obtain

* Labbe: sufficed

* Labbe: him

* Labbe: fled across

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

To Bernard, having set out to Conques a third time, a prodigy, in which St. Faith wonderfully healed one struck with a sword, gives occasion for writing a third book on the miracles of St. Faith.

CHAP. XV.

In the year therefore from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand and twenty ^a, In the year of Christ 1020 Bernard, having set out to Conques a third time, in the third Indiction, moved as much by the love of St. Faith as by the desire of seeing again the enlightened Witbert ^b, I made my way back to Conques for the third time; and not finding him surviving, I bore it very hard, although, as I trust, a good peace holds him in the land of the living, whom the Lord had glorified here with so great a miracle; nor do those despair of his salvation who at the hour of his departure saw both his entire confession and his easy death; not however a sudden one, because they say he foresaw the hour, although no anguish of pains announced it beforehand.

CHAP. XVI.

[64] But after these things, the solemn celebration of prayers having been duly completed, as I wished to return straightway

they began insistently to importune [he undertakes to write a third book on the miracles of St. Faith on the occasion of a miracle,] and beseech me to add a third little book of the miracles of St. Faith. But I refused with the utmost force that I would do it; for it was not necessary, since not only better things than the former, but not even similar ones, could be found; but they pressed on, that it was very needful to be done, and that I could not seize upon a pretext in this, that they did not know of some such thing, to which I myself would judge nothing to be preferred among the divine works; and when I asked about this with ardent and anxious mind, they say that some while ago there had come to St. Faith a certain Peter, a cleric from Auvergne ^c, most illustrious by birth, very powerful in dignities; and they relate that when they had shown him the new little codex of our first edition and designated the author by name, he complained exceedingly either that he had been absent at my coming, or that I had not turned aside through his territories, so that he might narrate to me a certain distinguished thing, and one to be placed among the chief.

[65] For he said that he had a soldier, Raymond by name ^d, by which a certain soldier, horribly wounded a man powerful with fifty men, from the village named in the plural Valeriae ^e, who, once in breaking up a tumult, had received a blow of a lightning-swift sword, swung from the opposite side, so strong that his nose was divided through the middle of the cheeks, one of the jaws also cut in two, and the other cut almost to the middle, the root of the tongue also severed from the throat, had opened so monstrous a gaping beneath the eyelids that the pieces of the divided face bristled hanging; whom his faithful men and friends, carrying him home, watch for the space of almost three months half-alive; whose life, wounded by an incurable wound, was more a weariness than a joy to his friends, since the use of his mouth was of no use for taking food, but only rich boiled-down wines ^f were distilled through the gap which we mentioned. So the wretch, long protracted by the delay of hateful life, began now to think within himself that he should signify, by what nod he could, that he be carried to St. Faith at the next day's light; not however with that vow that he should think further of bodily health, which seemed irreparable; but that the supernal mercy might succour his soul, dying either on the way or at St. Faith.

[66] was suddenly healed by St. Faith, appearing to him, The resolution being thus fixed, when on the following night, amid the anguish of grief and sadness, he fell more heavily asleep, and * behold, St. Faith seemed to appear to him, in a girlish and elegant form, so lovely, so comely, that nothing among human forms could be compared to her; who, when she had intimated to him, asking, the knowledge of her own name, at once added that she had come from God to succour the vows of one willing, but not able, to make his way to St. Faith. And after this, a prayer having been given clearly and openly for him, she added the Our Father at the end, and, the chapter being finished, the skilful Physician seemed to thrust her fingers into the putrefied mouth, and so to fix and re-form the several teeth, loosened as the corruption was already breathing out; then, her palm placed beneath, raising the chin she joined again that gaping cleft, and wonderfully animates the half-dead piece of the hanging face with the spirit of divine vivification. And, restored thus to health, she orders him to hasten to Conques, that he may give thanks to St. Saviour.

[67] not without the astonishment of himself and his servants. And when the dawn foretokened the rising of day, awakened, he found his face, handled with his hands, made whole again. That he might learn the certainty of this miracle by a plainer argument, he tries whether he can exercise the use of speaking; first with a lofty cry he calls his servants, and because he had long suffered the want of hunger, with shameless voice he asks for food. They, awakening, both think it some madman who asks for food so early, and stick stupefied over the sound of their master's voice; nevertheless, directing their course where that voice resounds, lights being kindled, beyond hope they find the man safe and unharmed. To them wondering he narrates both his purpose of yesterday and the dream of the divine visitation. Refreshed therefore and recreated with food, he goes to St. Faith, and returns in haste, not knowing, as a layman and unlearned, that so great a miracle was to be narrated to the monks; but after lord Peter had narrated these same things, sent back by him, he made his way back not only once but afterwards several times. Those who have seen him rather often testify that traces of the iron are seen red in the manner of a very fine thread.

ANNOTATIONS.

* "and" is redundant

CHAPTER II.

Of a certain Barnard raised from death, and of the wonders worked in him on the way as he came to St. Faith.

CHAP. XVII.

Since indeed ^a, excessively inflamed with the burning love of the most glorious virgin and unconquerable athlete of Christ Faith, we are compelled to take up again the long-interrupted leisure of writing, The writer asks for himself the patronage of St. Faith, we earnestly entreat to be helped by the magnificent suffrages of that most sacred and most beloved Martyr, who, joined in the citadel of heaven to the Angelic citizens, through the illustrious mighty works of her virtues, while we are silent, flashes throughout the whole world as the herald of her own power; for she, although she cannot offer herself to the peoples in bodily form, yet continually manifests herself by the revealed portents of miracles; nor does any land lie anywhere beneath both poles which is known to lack the praise and fame of her name; and not undeservedly, since she, a Virgin of illustrious disposition from her first beginnings, flourishing in all the honour of chastity, and shining purer than gold in all her acts, retained, woven in herself, that in which it is said: While the King was at His repose, my spikenard gave Him a sweet odour ^b.

[69] Truly to the supernal King, sitting on the high throne of the heavens, the spikenard of her sanctity and celibate life breathed a sweet fragrance; and he extols this with many titles. because she was wholly a good odour to the Lord, according to the Apostolic saying ^c; who at length, vaporized in the torrid fire of her passion, the alabaster box of her body being broken by the sharpest pains, was made chosen myrrh, whose rods of most sweet sweetness she sends forth through the widespread hinges of the world, in which the magnificent name of the glorious Virgin is received with pious love, and her eternal memorial is commended with worthy veneration. She, as the wonderful insignia of her virtues testify, while she put off in torments the limbs owed to death, was changed into a freer substance ^d, through which, running in the swiftest point of a moment through the empty fields of the air, she stands present everywhere on earth at the ears of those asking her suffrages in necessity; nor has any disease whatever the right of harming, being to be destroyed by the mallows ^e of her invocation; death also itself, which has learned to spare no one, is now untaught to stain with wretched pallor the faces which the holy Virgin, won over by suppliant vows, wishes to kindle with their former redness. Nay, even in an unaccustomed manner most voracious Orcus is compelled to give back from its bloody mouth untouched the morsels of souls ^f, with which, desiring to soothe its insatiable hunger, it ever gapes to stuff its harpy-like ^g belly. With the rewards of so great an honour the most illustrious Virgin is enriched by the Lord, for whose love, tortured with divers punishments of torments, she did not fear to suffer the extremities of death; whose illustrious fame, wandering over every place with pinions never at any time relaxed, exhorts all, as we have said, oppressed by any anguish whatever, to invoke the most blessed asylum of her patronage, because she is both easy of hearing and prodigal of gift.

[70] Whence it happened that a certain man, by name Hunald ^h, in the Toulousain ⁱ parts deserved an admirable benefit of the holy Martyr, and experienced in use and in deed the unexpected magnificence of her virtues; A young for he had a son, by name Bernard , whom according to custom he sent to guard the herd in the pastures. And he, having undertaken the pastoral care, one day, when the evening star ^k was rising, bringing the herds home, through negligent carelessness left one ox among the thickets, but put the rest into the ox-stalls ^l. Perceiving, therefore, that one animal was missing, the place being empty, he sought the pastures again alone through the dusky darkness of night, but, a great part of that night having now slipped away, in the vain labour of searching, he returned without the ox, sad and grieving. What should he do, whither should he turn, appears to him by no reckoning. For, terrified by the most wicked severity of his father, he does not dare, with him knowing it, to enter under the roof, nor in any way to intimate what had befallen him. At length, however, all being lulled to sleep, he betook himself secretly * to his little bed; where, when he was tossing his limbs, very wearied with tracking the lost ox, he is at once seized with so great a pain that he was believed to be almost loosened from all the framework of his bones; which pain growing excessively strong, he is both cheated of the motion of his limbs and deprived of the office of reason.

[71] a shepherd, dead and about to be laid in the tomb, And when morning came, as the father saw him seized with so great a sickness, laying aside his fury, he presently began to grieve with tearful groans over the imminent death of his son. But while he was shaken with vast blows of sobs, he implores with great cries the salutary help of St. Faith, that his son may be restored to his former soundness. But he, remaining immovable in his whole body, only at the top of the breast did the vital heat seem to him to throb , and in such a stupor of the limbs he spent nine days, the lamps of his eyes being extinguished. And on the tenth day, which was held a Sunday, when they saw the pupils * of his eyes wasting away in death, and his forehead and cheeks bedewed with cold sweat, a hand being placed on his left side they feel nothing living leap, but recognize by most evident signs that all was given over to eternal sleep. What more? They prepare the funeral, and, the lifeless corpse being placed on a bier, they celebrate it with howling laments.

[72] at the invocation of St. Faith But when on the next day's light he was being carried to the dug place of his burial, the father, with the affection of impatient love, embraces the cold body of his dead son, and, wetting his eyes and all his face with streaming tears, fills the whole place with bitter cries, amid which inconsolable groans he calls with frequent voices on the holy martyr of God Faith, and with tearful entreaties repeats three and four times that she should give back his son to him, saying ^m:

Virgin Faith, beloved of God, renowned light of the world, Who art wont to bring swift help to the wretched, Hear, most holy Martyr, the voice of a suppliant, And bring, I beg, what help thou canst to a wretch. No one, if by chance he asked, compelled by need, Departed empty of thy gift, thou withholding thy hands. I believe indeed, nor is my faith vain, that thou canst From heaven obtain from thy Lord what I desire. Behold, my only son, my sole delight, Has perished, the one hope and love of my race.

He perishing thus, the rest of my surviving life Will draw out thankless delays, lacking an end. But if, Virgin of God, thou art bent by any complaints Of the wretched, and art overcome by streaming tears, The limbs of my son, which we see lulled in death, Call back now, I beg thee, to their former life.

[73] And when the father, lying over the body of the dead, was complaining with great wailing with these and very many such complaints, he is restored to life, all who were present at the last service of the funeral, moved by the piety of the mourner, watered their faces with weeping, and unanimously, with tears mingled, entreat the most loving Virgin with prayers that she deign to look with propitious countenance at the invocation of her holy name ⁿ:

So also forthwith, but also (O wonderful to say!) Foul Death, turned back, a fugitive, abandoned its prey, And, voracious, vomited forth the plunder from its greedy jaw. And forthwith the dead man with a slow nodding Turns his head to either side, the cold marrows growing warm again With a life-giving kindling; and suddenly through the chilled limbs The spirit poured in gives the whole body to live, And he who lay is raised, scarcely lifting his trembling Eyes, and presently raises all his limbs together, And the frame of his members stood on its own feet. Thence he seeks again his father's house by a revived path.

[74] Which being seen, all turned to thanksgiving and shed tears for joy at so great a miracle, and, glorifying the virtue of the holy virgin and martyr Faith, suppliantly devote themselves and their own to her with vows and gifts; and the things which were shown to him in ecstasy of mind and so, returning to their own homes from the church of St. George ^o, where they had come together for the sake of burying the young man, the father of the son born after death, as it were, and the rest of the housemates, with diligent searching * one day studied to ask of him what had seemed to him in those nine days in which, placed in an ecstasy of soul, he had lain as though dead, and how, or by whose help, having afterwards been carried to be buried, he had returned to the vital airs. But he, still bearing a trembling breast, drawing long sighs from the bottom of his spirit, began thus at once to answer those asking: That the rest may now for the present be passed over in silence, the things which befell me at the last end I shall not delay to set out briefly, most certainly and without the ambiguity of any falsity. My spirit, loosed from the bodily bonds, is handed over to certain most foul ministers, by whose most cruel leading it is dragged to the very gaping of a most vast precipice, into whose horrid abyss, while I dreaded with inexpressible fear to be thrown, (shall I speak or be silent?) behold there came a man of most splendid comeliness, who, as I afterwards learned, it clearly appeared was Michael the archangel, the provost of paradise, whose placid journey the most glorious virgin Faith attended as companion, who shone above the radiance of the sun with wonderful splendour.

[75] And this provost of the heavens, when he beheld those to whom I had been assigned to be tortured raging, after the manner of executioners, he narrates; irremediably at my stripes, said: Why, artificers of evils, do you rage with so great cruelty in the torments of this recruit? Why do you go about to destroy without any mercy a soul created by the supreme God? Cease now from his grievous laceration; because, God permitting, through this most holy virgin Faith he will be poured back into his own body, snatched from your power. At this voice the ministers of Tartarus, seized with intolerable dread, held back their hands, ever prone to evil, and, trembling with unaccustomed fear, obeyed the heavenly messengers. Without delay the most happy virgin Faith, with swift onset, rushed into the midst of their wedges, and violently drew my soul out of their hands, and so wonderfully poured it back, as you know, into the body that was being committed to the ground. And after he had pursued in order the texture not only of this vision but also of the truth of the thing done [p], the father and neighbours set out on a journey, and direct their steps to the monastery of the holy Virgin with the same revived man, to render the due thanks of praises [q].

[76] then, setting out to St. Faith, he twice experiences her patronage. As they were descending along the sloping side of the mountain which stretches its head to the clouds from the bed of the river Dordunus [r], at a certain steeper slippery place the animal on which he was sitting, because he had not yet well recovered from his infirmity, stumbled, its foot slipping, and, long sticking in rising again, threw him from its back with an enormous crash; and although the path lay very narrow on the precipice of the mountain, protected by the power of God and the guardianship of the holy Martyr, he at once rose unharmed. Finally, seeking the basilica, they render praises with exultant minds to almighty God for the benefit of the resurrection, for which they had come, and, venerating the Saint with due gifts, they adore, bless, and proclaim her shining in the wonderful power of her virtues. And prayer being completed, they betake themselves to the lodging; whence, lights having been arranged, while, as night fell, they were going forth to celebrate the sacred watches of the vigils before the holy Virgin, that often-mentioned twice-man [s], Barnard by name, the ancient enemy setting the snares of little traps [t], fell by an unforeseen fall downward from the upper rooms through the gaping openings of the flooring. His companions flying to him with swift course found him unharmed, the holy Martyr putting her hand beneath, as if he had been received on the supports of cushions from the near fall. And the next day the venerable brethren of this monastery, little informed of the virtue of the former miracle, take him apart, and with sagacious industry search out the whole series of the vision. And he, calling to witness God, from whom no secret is hidden, asserts that all things were as [u] is contained in the narrative above.

[77] [St. Faith causes a cloth stolen by theft to be returned to its owner in a wonderful manner.] Nor do we think that worthy to be passed over in silence, in which the admirable sanctity of the magnificent Virgin and our patroness Faith, to be compared to the merits of all the Saints, shines forth, and restrains the rash from unlawful attempts, lest they be perpetrated. The circle of one year, as was thought, having rolled round, the same restored man was making his way back to the oratory of St. Faith with the due service of the benefit received, accompanied by a certain Garsias [x], native of the village of St. Orens, which is commonly called Marciacus [y]. This Garsias, who after the manner of the Gascons is distinguished by such a name, while he was carrying a cloth with him for the sake of gain, as often happens, for it was not begun by him, reaching the church of Lucasina [z] on foot is attacked by robbers and compelled to suffer the loss of the cloth taken; but he, out of love of the holy prayers, making light of this robbery and pursuing the journey begun, that robber calls together the seamstresses [aa], and with eager mind urges them to make breeches [bb] for him from it. But what more? Divine power was at once not lacking, changing the cloth into the hardness of flint, and blunted the edge of the shears as though on a wooden twig. This miracle being shown once and twice, they remember that the power of God and of the holy Martyr was present, who forbade them to cut the stolen linen. Excessively frightened by the terror of this prodigy, the invader kept that linen, and asked pardon of the misdeed from the pilgrims as they returned, and suppliantly gave it back. They, recognizing that the virtue of the holy Virgin had prevailed in this matter, returned rejoicing with thanksgiving to their own homes.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. If by the horrid abyss of the most vast precipice mentioned above that revived Barnard wished to designate the place destined perpetually for the damned, or hell strictly so called, rather than the place of expiation, and to assert that his soul had in fact already been thrust into it, he was most certainly mistaken in this, since it is certain by faith that there is no redemption of the damned from that hell strictly so called. Further, it is not so wonderful that that good young man believed that the things which were exhibited to him in vision had in fact happened to him.

q. Labbe edited these things thus: The father and neighbours set out on a journey to St. Faith to render thanks; and he omitted the rest which follow in this chapter.

r. On the river Dordunus see what was said in the Annotations, page 292, letter n.

s. He is called Virbius, as if you should say twice a man, because raised from the dead. On this word John of Genoa thus in Du Cange in the Lexicon: Virbius, being twice a man, from Bis and Vir: or one who had or has two wives: or also one who twice did deeds worthy of a man: or one who has been raised again, as Lazarus and Hippolytus.

t. Captentula or captensula is used also in Du Cange, under the word Captensula, for a trap and mousetrap; but here to construct the snares of little traps is taken for to contrive fraud or snares.

u. See however what was said here at letter p.

x. This miracle is absent from the Labbe edition. Further, that Garsias is unknown to me from elsewhere.

y. That village was so called, as I judge, from St. Orens, or rather Orientius, bishop of Auch in Novempopulania, of whom our predecessors treated on the 1st of May, page 60. However, since this village of St. Orens, commonly called Marciacus, seems different from Marciliacum, now called Marcillac, and distant about four leagues from the monastery of Figeac, and since I have also nowhere found Marsiacum or Marciacum, a village situated in the district of Astarac, marked under the name of St. Orens, I could not easily determine the site of that Marciacus.

z. The church of Lucasina, or the village of Lucasina, I have sought in vain among the geographers.

aa. By pannatrices are understood in this place women skilled in the art of making garments.

bb. Breeches, or rather a cloak with sleeves, formerly also called Braccae, seem to be designated here. See Du Cange in the Lexicon under the word Bracae.

* Labbe omits "Whence"

* Labbe: and in sight

* Labbe: unexpected

* Labbe: a son, whom

* Labbe: clanculus

* Labbe: and

* Labbe omits "to throb"

* Labbe: pupolas

* Labbe wrongly: persecution

CHAPTER III.

Of a mule raised from death: of a hawk found: of a crippled girl and of a cripple straightened.

CHAP. XVIII.

A certain soldier, Geraldus ^a, no obscure person, A mule that had died, at the invocation of St. Faith was dwelling in the district of Rodez *, namely in the villa which is called Villaris ^b, distant from Conques about six thousand paces. When he was once returning from Rome, it happened that the mule which he had received on loan from his brother Bernard ^c, a cleric, broken by I know not what vice, began to fail. And he, remembering the miracles of St. Faith, whom he had as a neighbour, vowed to her for the health of the animal a candle which should have the length of the animal; yet the mule did not recover, but, much more burdened, died; and the man, seeing this, sells the hide to his host; and when the most worthless host offered him a very small price, reckoning that, even if he gave nothing, he would have it all the same, that Geraldus, greatly indignant, furrows the side of the carcass with various cuts lengthwise and crosswise, so namely that, when he went away thence, the faithless host should not rejoice in an intact hide. Finally, having seized the staff of his pilgrimage, piercing the eye of the dead beast with the point and striking the tail, he begins thus in a fury: What loss would St. Faith now suffer if, among other gifts of healing, restoring health to this mule also, she should obtain for herself so long a candle? Now, wretch that I am, I am struck by a double peril, by remaining on foot on the way, and by paying my brother at home ten times ten solidi; for both brothers had agreed at so much with each other about that mule, if by chance it should incur the danger of death.

[79] was restored to life, by various testimonies And scarcely had he completed these very few words, when the mule, reviving, stood on all fours with a very swift leap. And lest anyone should think it leaped up from anything but a true death, at the very point of time in which this was done, all the wounds of the cut skin flourished in the manner of a painting, no longer fresh with the pouring of blood, but, as I said of another ^d, with a certain sheen of down, or * as if old. This done, the aforementioned Geraldus, rejoicing greatly, returns home, and gave enormous thanks to God and His Saint, and spread abroad everywhere the novelty of the miracle done. The nobility of the man was known to all, and likewise his good faith; and lest he should seem to relate anything rashly or garrulously, he had the mule marked with the wounds present at hand. This the monks themselves (relate), and also very many others, who afterwards saw Geraldus himself more than a thousand times ^e. Nevertheless, although sufficiently certain from their relation, I should not have been so content, if he were still alive, as not to make a digression through him on returning, since he himself, an inhabitant of this neighbourhood, would turn me little from my road.

[80] For although, both weak in sense and weighed down with sin, I am unworthy of this office, Bernard proves, who also discloses the cause why he writes such prodigies, yet I am not so false as to proclaim false things of my own accord, nor would I have borne to incur the detraction of many by the relation of so prodigious a thing, had I not known undoubted truth to be in it. For it is wickedness to hide the truth of Christ through human terror; and those who do it I greatly fear lest Christ should give them over to oblivion before the Father in heaven; for He Himself says: But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. The same again elsewhere: Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own majesty and in His Father's and of the holy Angels ^f. Far be it that I should be ashamed, O Christ, to confess Thy truth to men and to write it in my book, lest Thou Thyself too shouldest be ashamed to confess me before Thy Father who is in heaven, and shouldest blot me out of Thy book which Thou hast written; but that we may hasten to the end of our words, what madman doubts any longer that there will be a resurrection of men in the future, when already in the present even animals rise again?

CHAP. XIX.

[81] But ^g concerning the least matters also, which the inhabitants of the place, as rustic understanding is, call the Jests of St. Faith, although he suspects that among some it will not find credence. so many miracles have been done there, Christ cooperating, that both their multiplicity lacks a relater, and, if any are narrated, they cannot easily be believed on account of their novelty. But the matter of truth cannot quickly be suffocated or extinguished, but the more sharply it is torn apart by the perfidy of the incredulous, the more effectively it retains the force and vigour of persevering; and as a burning lamp which, beaten amid the onsets of a raging storm, flashes forth with a greater tress of rays, so also truth amid the clamour of detractors walks with upright head, and the more it is detracted from, the more vehement the cause it takes, whereby, fortified or defended, it may come forth into the more open light of human knowledge. But if there should be such as will not believe these things, what does it matter to me? God knows, who works, and who animated me to this office, who, and where, and when there will be those to whom it is given to believe these things and by believing to profit. And although in this worst of ages very nearly all have deviated from the state of ancient religion, inasmuch as each goes astray after his own desires, yet the Artificer of all good things suffers no ages or times to pass without the testimony of His goodness, and has not ceased still at times to exercise through His Saints the mighty works of His power, although, on account of the sins of men, more rarely; and as He is of unsearchable and inexhaustible wisdom, so also the character of His virtues cannot be comprehended by anyone, so that He should not, if He will, do new and unheard-of things; for it is not right, as Boethius says ^h, either to comprehend by wit or to unfold in speech all the machines of the divine work. But we, being about to speak of the least things, or, if it is right to say so, of the jests of St. Faith, let us turn back our diverted pen to what we began.

[82] A hawk, which had been lent at the highest price, A certain soldier, called Geraldus, a neighbour of Conques, of whom we made mention some while ago when we spoke of the mule, being most apt for all the military arts, asked on loan from his senior at the city of Rodez an excellent hawk; to whose request the senior at once did not delay to consent; an agreement however being made and affirmed that, if by chance that Geraldus should lose that hawk ⁱ, he should be entirely deprived of his benefice. This condition pleased both, the more cunning one indeed, that by the seizure of another's goods on such an occasion he might fill the insatiable gullet of his avarice; but this one, that he might enjoy the honour of so great a bird even for a time ^k. But before this Geraldus, now returning, reached his home, a cause arose for him to turn aside into the district of Albi ^l. There, when he had once let go that hawk, the bird, the cast having failed, wandered through the vast spaces of the air and disappeared. He, having long pursued it and being able in no way to recall it, now wearied with excessive labour, withdrew home exceedingly sorrowful and taking it sadly; for indeed the cruelty of his unmerciful lord had long been known to him, * implacable anger. Alas, wretch that I am, he said, bound by how unhappy a lot, the more straitened, and how intractable a lord's ferocity am I compelled to suffer? What now remains, O shame, O disgrace! but that I should return stripped of my goods to the utmost ignominy? Nay, wretch that I am, I seem already to see that day when, needy of things, I shall be reckoned a beggar by those who wish me evil. And when his household, approaching from every side to relieve his distress, poured out words of consolation for a long while, he did not hear them, nor did he acquiesce in anything at all, but, complaining much more sorely, he remained unfed until evening, spurning food.

[83] lost by a certain Geraldus, at the invocation of St. Faith At last his good wife, approaching manfully, said: Why, my soul, do you torment yourself? Or why do you macerate yourself? Why are you affected with so great grief? Why do you banish the countenance of your cheerfulness with mourning? Why do you vainly heap up such great laments of complaints over an irrecoverable thing? Yet if you will bind yourself by a vow to go forth tomorrow morning to St. Faith barefoot with an offering of wax, I hope that God will be a helper in this matter; act therefore manfully and let your heart be comforted, and do not distrust that the mercy of God can be obtained through the suffrages of St. Faith; smooth your brow, gladden your face, and recline at supper among your own with your accustomed gladness; for it is not difficult for God to grant that you rise thence more joyful. Does not the wise woman seem to have warned rightly, since indeed in anguish nothing is more grievous than distrust?

[84] wonderfully returns to him. Greatly comforted and relieved by these words, the man, the vow having first been pronounced, sits down to the feast so magnificently as if he had suffered no sadness, feeling himself now in a manner gladdened by the divine will, and presaging an imminent joy; but in the midst of it (most beautiful to say) a domestic goose ^m, flying in unexpectedly from outside, disturbs the guests; which the hawk that had been lost at once following, rushed upon it with a most rapid onset within the compass of the supper-room. And this was the sign of the noble miracle, that the bird returned from another district, as if on purpose, to a place which it had not known. What joy, what gladness there was, how many thanks were stretched up on high, when for the senior, not expecting it, both the hope of recovering his benefice is renewed and the glorification of the miracle is increased? Whence on the morrow, to give thanks for the goodness of God, he ran to pay his vows to God and to St. Faith.

CHAP. XX.

[85] At another time also [n], to obtain the benefits of divine loving-kindness through the renowned merits of St. Faith, a girl, A girl, horribly contracted, divinely raised up through St. Faith; loosed from the offices of all her limbs, is brought from the village of Cassiacum ^o, who, by the carelessness of her bearers left across the bank of the river which licks the shore-rocks of the village of Conques, was begging alms from those passing by; whose inhospitable face and limbs, because she could not keep them off with hand or staff, were very often licked by wild beasts at night, as she herself afterwards testified. Being indeed carried up to the monastery by no one's pity, she remained for very many days in such misery; at length, by the will of God, the elders of the place, moved by mercy, order her to be carried to the monastery on a pallet. Keeping watch long before its first vestibule, she seemed to beg alms from those entering for the sake of prayer, like the lame man [p] once at Peter's, at the Beautiful gate of the temple. But at length the holy virgin of God Faith, made another Peter from heaven, when the day was drawing to evening, which she had adorned with the glory of leafy-haired branches and palms [q], she is raised from the ground and, her feet being strengthened, goes forward wholly sound to the mausoleum of the most sacred Virgin. On account of which thing wonderfully done those standing by, pouring out with enormous joy, unanimously praise God the almighty, who deigned to confer so great on His soldier Faith

power in every splendour of virtues.

CHAP. XXI.

[86] There remains another miracle not much unlike this, which seems to us to be inserted in the waiting page. likewise a man lame from birth. To obtain the benefits of the holy Virgin, a certain man from the territory of the people of Agen [r], by name Humbert [s], is brought by the help of his parents, whom the livid nature of his mother had brought forth from the womb half-dead from the loins downward; and when he had been sustained there for very many years by the mercy of the devout, visited at length by divine loving-kindness, in the night following after the most celebrated day of the Assumption of the holy Mother of God, while he was passing the night in vigils with many others before the propitiatory of the glorious Martyr, he is seized with excessive pain through his languid limbs, and began to send forth laments with enormous cries, amid which pains he does not cease to cry out for the suffrages of St. Faith, and with tears entreats that she be propitious to him. Thence, with a sudden crash, his contracted limbs are stretched out straight, and those which he had drawn weak from his mother's bowels he received strong through the invocation of the holy Virgin; and so, spurning the little stools with which, if ever he made his way elsewhere, he was accustomed to send forth locust-like leaps along the ground, he rejoices to run about with firm steps among the other crowds [t].

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Dodus, as also Clodus, for Claudus are sometimes found written in the middle age. Go to Du Cange's Lexicon, and the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 3.

q. He signifies that this happened towards evening on Palm Sunday.

r. On the city and district of Agen see what was said at page 289, letter d.

s. Of that Humbert I have found nothing elsewhere.

t. Why, therefore, from our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden I shall not edit here chapter 22 also, which is entitled Of a peasant freed from a demon, and the following, which treats of a girl also freed from a demon, and finally chapter 24, which has the title Of a soldier wounded by an arrow and healed through St. Faith; why, I say, I judged these should be passed over here, I have disclosed in the Commentary from num. 92. Further, those three chapters are followed in our copy by an elogium of St. Faith, or rather of her miracles, composed by Bernard, which it has seemed good to join here to those already edited under the name of Epilogue.

* Labbe: Rhutenico

* Labbe: as

* supply "and"

EPILOGUE.

Celebrated for miracles of every kind For so great are the insignia of the virtues of this Virgin that, scattered through the hinges of the four-cleft world, they can neither be gathered in words, nor, so infinite, be laid up in pages. For she traverses all seas, God setting the sails; she surveys all regions; she compares herself with the merits of all the Saints in the admirable brightness of her virtues; her, as a splendid sun under both poles, the Lord brought forth to rising for the world now falling; from whose most brilliant rays, through the increments of signs, the whole earth is irradiated, the whole people is lifted up by daily benefits, and even to souls going forth from Erebus, under her leadership, its recesses lie open ^a. Her most bountiful benefits become frequent in divers countries, more abundant ^b than in that place where the most holy pledges of her body are celebrated. Yet the sick, coming very frequently to her sacred oratory, obtain the desired health, the blind light, the vexed deliverance, the withered quiet, the sciatic [c] uprightness, the chiliaci ^d medicine, the epileptics ^e health, and those despaired of life a speedy restoration.

[88] She, invoked, breaks the forces of wars, prepares distinguished triumphs for those devoted to her, Bernard proclaims St. Faith, fights better than arms, contends more strongly than strength; she, if at any time, faults requiring it, heaven is shut, unlocks it like Elijah; raises the lame from the pallet like Peter; makes serene the foul clouds of the sea like Paul; calms the turbid storms like Nicholas; raises the dead like Martin of Sabaria ^f. She is known to be unequal to none of the supernal citizens in any power of virtues, in whom the sum of all sanctity flashes; she without ambiguity attends more familiarly on the Mother of God, because she too, a happy and powerful Virgin, excels in the whiteness of virginity; the precious pearl of paradise, joined in chaste body to the chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom, the bright lamp of the world, the safest patroness of the people, the glory of Virgins, the flower of martyrs, the praise of angels, the ornament of the heavens, the salvation of the country, the vigour of the Church, the plunderer of gehenna, the gate of the supernal hall, the most powerful agridium ^g of bodies to be cured, the sweetest antidote of the languishing, the most unconquered protection of the troubled. She not only strengthens weak limbs, but, what excels all these, wipes away the filth of faults, obtains from the Lord from heaven pardon of guilt, and, a faithful interpreter, makes known the prayers of suppliants to the ears of divine loving-kindness.

[89] Whose most glorious virtues we entreat with devout minds and asks that men may be saved by her patronage. that she who performs such things from her earthly lodging may deign to raise us, already almost dead to God for our sins, from the sepulchre of vices, so that at that tremendous moment of resurrection, stripped of the little cloaks of wretched goats [h], she may change us from the left in white fleece to the right, where she will be carried forward to the crown, and may cause us in the wedding garment to be summoned to the banquet of that supper, to whose feast the prudent Virgin herself with the oil of exultation will enter, to reign with Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit is honour and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen ⁱ.

ANNOTATIONS.

APPENDIX OF MIRACLES.

Faith, virgin and martyr, at Agen in Aquitaine. (S.) The companion martyrs, at Agen in Aquitaine.

BY J. G.

§ I. Why these miracles are edited. One invoking St. Faith suddenly recovers: the author's brother, by the invocation of St. Faith, is presently cured of a grave disease: a mule, her patronage being invoked, restored to life: a woman evading the offering of a ring to her, divinely punished; repenting of the deed, cured: a barren woman made fruitful by her patronage.

Why other miracles written by Bernard are edited here. Although the Miracles, written by Bernard, scholastic of Angers, which I have just now edited from our manuscript copy of the codex of the Queen of Sweden, abundantly prove that our most holy Martyr scarcely yields to any one of the most celebrated virgins in the glory of virtues and signs, and accordingly some, and those especially whom a lengthy narrative of wonders is not wont to please, would by no means be angry with me if certain other things which exist, set down in writing by the same Bernard, both in Labbe in the New Library of Manuscripts, volume 2, and elsewhere, were passed over here; yet, since others also, and those most of all who do not have that Work of Labbe at hand, would not undeservedly take it ill if the things which were written by the same scholastic, and which besides partly to illustrate

in some way the history of Aquitaine, were wrapped in silence by me on purpose, it has seemed good to me to satisfy these rather than the former, even for this reason, that both to reveal the works of God ought to be judged no less honourable in these our times than in the times of Tobias, and very many have by no means regretted to have first edited historical fragments, or to have reprinted in their place things edited elsewhere. I begin therefore from a fragment of the Work printed above, unedited in my opinion at least, which the Reverend Father Johannes Gamans, S.J., a theologian very often well deserving of our Museum and no less frequently praised by us, caused to be copied for us from the manuscript Life of St. Faith preserved in the Charterhouse of Strasbourg, and collated with it on the 21st day of September in the year 1663.

[2] In the aforesaid schedule of Gamans, after those two miracles Sigebald, wretchedly sick, suddenly recovers by the patronage of St. Faith, which are reviewed in the copy of the codex of the Queen of Sweden in chapters VIII and IX, there follows one to which the title is: Of him who, invoking St. Faith, recovered with wonderful swiftness, and presently another under this title: That St. Faith wonderfully freed his brother (namely Bernard's) from the contortion of his limbs. Further, the former prodigy is related in these words of Bernard: But also this my Sigebald, minister of my secrets, a scholastic and fellow priest, who made pilgrimage with me to St. Faith in the present year (perhaps of the second pilgrimage to St. Faith), when lately he was atrociously and wretchedly sick, invaded by sudden pains, so that from the excessive swelling of the brain even his eyes were darkened, and, what was more intolerable, a poisoned humour raging about the praecordia and the receptacles of the heart, he was almost letting go his suffocated soul; the memory of St. Faith came into his mind, and promising to go to her, in that very hour he breathed again, and recovered with wonderful swiftness, so much so that no doubt was left that he had been freed through St. Faith. However, whether that Sigebald, whom Bernard calls scholastic and fellow priest, is the same as Sigo of Chartres, praised in volume 7 of the Histoire littéraire de la France, page 57, as Bernard's successor in the headship of the school of Chartres, I leave to others to define, and proceed to the other miracle.

[3] It is conceived in these words: What then the clemency of the supreme Father deigned to do very lately for me, most undeserving, for St. Faith, as also the brother of the author, though anyone may think me vain, I shall not be reluctant to say, since it is a very great debt, that I should discharge and make it manifest. I had a brother (he was, unless I am mistaken, the one who in volume 4 of the Benedictine Annals, page 547, num. 58, is called Robert, afterwards made abbot of Cormery) labouring under a grave malady, who, the day on which the infirmity was expected to be terminated having already long passed, had now fallen into such grave and horrible torments of body (for it was other than was thought) that the monstrous contortion of his limbs struck human sight with pain and likewise with horror; whom also the inner confusion of the brain had rendered so stupid that, wearied by long calling, he could scarcely give forth any answer of human reason. Then, when, now utterly despairing of the recovery of health, we looked upon nothing else than almost death itself, inasmuch as we had seen that some had failed in the same year under similar torments, I began, moved in my bowels over my brother's suffering, distrusting my own merits, to entreat those standing round that the help of St. Faith should be implored.

[4] a vow being made by him of going barefoot to the Saint's sepulchre. And when they thought this entirely useless, I myself burst out into this cry: St. Faith, what does it profit me to proclaim your virtues everywhere, if I myself, surrounded by anguish, am left a stranger to the benefit of your help? Give back my brother, I beseech you, and, lest it be doubted that he recovered through you, bring it about, I pray, that within tomorrow this intolerable suffering be relieved. If you do this, I promise by vow that he shall be led to you barefoot. In which I confess I acted foolishly; for to set a time for the mercy of the Lord and to fix a day for Him at human discretion is rather a provocation of divine anger and fury than of mercy. Nevertheless, trusting in His patience, I did so, and, a pledge being thus given into the hand of the deacon standing by, I confirmed the promise. So strong and so efficacious was the intercession of the holy Martyr at once present, that on the same day, not, as I think, more than two hours having run out, that tempest of atrocious pains was calmed and ceased. For a sudden sleep invaded the man, and the pores, opened, flowed with a healthful sweat, and little by little the dying man, his limbs reviving, after a few days had intervened, recovered. Thus far the fragment of the Strasbourg manuscript codex, our copy likewise written by hand, of which discourse was made above. I subjoin to these from the praised volume 2 of the New Library of Manuscripts the miracle which is edited there at page 534, chapter 2, and was set by Bernard before that which is related in our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden in chapter XVIII, as is abundantly plain from these words of the same writer: As I said of another, etc.

[5] The mule of a certain man of Toulouse, prayers having been poured out by him Further, it is related thus in Labbe in the cited place: A certain soldier coming from the district of Toulouse, Bonusfilius by name, whose son, still surviving, is reckoned by the same name, to the holy place of the Virgin, when he was now not farther from the village of Conques than about two miles, the beast on which he was sitting, struck by I know not what disease, suddenly became lifeless. He ordered peasants to be hired, therefore, to strip the carcass of its hide. But he himself went forward to the holy Virgin, for love of whom he had made the journey, and lying on the ground pours out prayers, sets forth vows. At last before the golden image of the most sacred Martyr he complained of the loss of his mule. For because the same mule had been most excellent and almost incomparable, he had therefore taken its loss exceedingly grievously and sadly: especially since the enemy, prevailing, had brought loss upon him as he toiled in a good work. The solidity of whose faith seems to be extolled with no small praise; for when he ceased from prayer, the mule, with the feet by which it was already being held to be flayed, keeping off both peasants far by kicking (wonderful to say!), sprang forth with a revived leap, and, gaping after the tracks of its fellow animals, burst forth through the midst of the mountain tops to the village.

[6] revives at St. Faith. You might see the animal, as those who were present very often testify to us, according to the measure of brute sense, float with the joy of recovered life, and, running about through the square before the church, in a manner feel the goodness of its Maker, and accordingly render thanks to God with frequent neighing, who gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that call upon Him; the peasants, having followed it headlong, still carrying their bloodied knives, narrate the prodigy seen concerning the mule to those still doubting. And that the certain opinion might not only be contained in the mouth of those who saw, but also, as by a certain expressed writing, might empty out every error of ambiguity; here on both hind legs the furrows of the fresh wounds, like the most ancient scars, with hairs even growing white, re-formed in the same hour with solid juncture, (remained) as long as the mule survived, a sign of the resurrection. And the soldier, offering one gold piece to God and His Saint for thanksgiving, returns back whence he had come to his country: and, the animal itself being given up to St. Faith, for very many years thereafter he assigned very many gifts to her.

[7] Further, since the miracle which is related in the Labbe edition, chapter 3, A woman evading the offering of a ring promised, as it seems, to St. Faith, has been edited by us from our already often praised copy, from page 321, at num. 78, I pass to another, which in the aforesaid Labbe at page 535, chapter 4, has this title: Of the ring denied and afterwards returned to St. Faith. But it will help to have set a few things before it. As the female mind is for the most part more credulous than is fair, it would not be so wonderful if the matron to be mentioned below gave credence to that rumour by which St. Faith was reported commonly to seek the rings of pilgrims in sleep. But even if St. Faith had in fact (which however neither Bernard relates undoubtedly nor would I dare to guarantee) offered herself to be seen in sleep by many women, namely to ask that either their rings or other precious things be given to her by them as a gift, was it therefore a crime, and that worthy of a three-day punishment, not to obey the asker at once, or to keep for herself the things which pertained to the seemly and honourable adornment of the body? I for my part cannot be induced to believe it; and therefore I judge that that woman was afflicted divinely with three-day fevers for no other cause than that, guilty of a vow, she evaded offering the ring previously promised by her of her own accord to St. Faith; and this also Bernard seems to me to have intimated towards the end, when he affirms that she, remembering her fault, confessed her negligence. Now hear Bernard's whole narrative.

[8] A certain noble matron, having heard the report of the virtues of St. Faith, [is seized with fever, and, repenting of the deed, is cured by the patronage of St. Faith.] prepared to go there. She, when she was beginning the journey, having now advanced a little from the threshold, remembers that St. Faith sought the rings of pilgrims in sleep; presently therefore she steps back, and, having drawn her own ring from her finger, commits it to her chambermaid, summoned, to be guarded. Take this, she says, and keep it, till I return, lest perhaps St. Faith, having sought it, take it from me if I carry it to Conques. Namely, she did this cunningly, as though by someone's caution she could evade the providence of Him who foresees all things before they are done. What more? The woman goes, discharges the debts of prayers, and returns in peace. On the following night a virgin form appears to her as she dreams, which, when being asked she made known her identity by the name of St. Faith, forthwith warns with imperious authority that the ring be given to her. Presently, when the woman dissembled that she had the ring, the Lady suggests that it is the one which, going away to Conques, she had committed to her chambermaid lest she should give it to her. Morning having come, the woman, awakened, reckons the divine vision as a fantastic or empty dream. But why should I dwell longer on the end of the matter? At once the woman begins to burn with so efficacious a fire of fever through the whole space of her body that she could scarcely stand for one hour. Having suffered thus, however, for three days she came to herself, remembers her fault, confesses her negligence. Presently therefore, as soon as she ordered the horse to be saddled, namely that she might return by the returning track to St. Faith, the excessive heat of the burning is remitted: and so she goes whole, and returns rejoicing, reckoning it no moderate gain to exchange a ring for health. Thus far Bernard.

[9] Arsindis, wife of the count of Toulouse, The same author, in chapter 5 of the Labbe edition, which is entitled Of the golden sleeves, sets about narrating how Arsindis, or Arsendis, wife of William, count of Toulouse, about whom the curious reader can see various things in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc, pages 105, 115 and elsewhere, was made fruitful by the patronage of St. Faith with more than one male offspring, although before, as the writers of the History of Languedoc judge at page 105, she had been entirely barren. I present Bernard himself narrating these things. Now indeed, he says, how many miracles of this kind the Lord has deigned to work through St. Faith, no one could all

retain, nor has anyone leisure to write those which have been retained; yet I wish to attach a few of those which I have heard to the aforesaid; in such a way indeed that I may seem neither taciturn by excessive silence nor odious by excessive verbosity. I know that it has been said before us, Everything rare is precious, and therefore, in comparison with the rest of the whole, I write rare things, that they may be precious. Christ therefore will grant pardon that knowingly I pass over very many things. Arsendis, wife of William, count of Toulouse (brother of that Pons who was afterwards treacherously killed by Artald, his stepson), had golden bracelets, or rather (because they continued up to the elbow) sleeves distinguished by wonderful work and precious gems.

[10] [precious sleeves being offered to St. Faith, she is made fruitful with a double male offspring.] When she had once lain alone on her noble couch, she sees in a dream as it were the form of a most beautiful girl passing before her: and when she marvels at her for her excessive elegance, she addresses her with such a question: Tell me, she says, Lady, who you seem to be. St. Faith answered the asker with humble voice: I am St. Faith, do not doubt, heroic woman. But she in turn, very suppliantly, said: O holy Lady, why have you deigned to approach a sinner? Then in the same hour St. Faith makes known to her, asking, the business of her coming. Give me, she said, the golden sleeves which you have, and, going to Conques, place them upon the altar of the holy Saviour; for this is the cause why I have sought your presence. To this the prudent matron, not suffering so great a gift to go away without interest, said thus: O holy Lady, if through you God shall grant that I be made fruitful with male offspring, I will carry out with willing mind what you command. To her St. Faith said: This the almighty Creator will most easily do for His handmaid, if you do not deny what I ask. On the morrow the woman, stirred by this answer, inquires most studiously in what district the village which is called Conques is situated (for the novelty of the virtues of Conques had not yet, except rarely, gone beyond its borders). Having learned this from those who had learned it, she herself, performing the office of a pilgrim, carried the golden armlets there with the highest devotion, and offered them to God and His Saint. And there the venerable matron, spending some days of the Lord's Resurrection honourably, and honouring the solemnity with her presence, afterwards returned to her own home. And she, according to the promise of the divine vision, conceived and bore a male child, and, being made pregnant again, brought forth another, whose names were, of the first-born Raymond, of the second Henry. These sleeves were afterwards consumed in the work of the altar-table.

[11] Before we proceed to another miracle written by Bernard, which is lacking in our copy, An observation on the narrative of that miracle. we must halt here a little, to avert the scruple which Bernard's words, set before the last parenthesis, might inject. Already then, when Stephen II was governing the abbey of Conques, or about the year 940, as we taught in the Commentary from num. 53, there was a frequent concourse of men arriving from every side at the sepulchre of St. Faith, and, as the anonymous author of the Translation written in prose testifies at num. 23, and Bernard himself testifies in his Prologue, many miracles older than his age were done there; how then, you will say, can it be asserted by Bernard that in the year 975, or more probably even some years after, the place of Conques and the prodigies worked there were unknown to Arsindis? I answer that this ignorance of a princely woman, brought up in places not a little distant from the monastery of Conques, and intent rather on domestic affairs, or at least those of her own dominion, than on things done elsewhere, ought not to seem unlikely, especially at a time when the miracles of St. Faith had not yet been written by an author worthy of credence and spread through the Gauls, or perhaps such illustrious ones as could not fail to come to the knowledge of all, even of outsiders, had not yet been done. Further, the things which pertain to William, count of Toulouse, and his brother Pons, and Artald, mentioned above, let the curious reader see in the praised volume 2 of the History of Languedoc, where he will also find the rest of Arsindis's offspring enumerated at page 538, last column. However, the reason why I do not subjoin in this place to these two last chapters of the Labbe edition what is presented in volume 2 of the History of Languedoc among the Instrumenta, column 6, as chapter 5 of book 3, is that the fact related there, besides the apparition of St. Faith, and that indeed, could not easily have happened by fortuitous chance.

* or "contained"

* supply "he retained"

§ II. Of a certain Raymond, who suffered shipwreck and was freed by the help of St. Faith: why certain miracles of St. Faith from Labbe are not edited here.

Some things are set first which bear on the understanding Proceeding to the prodigies worked through St. Faith which are reviewed by Bernard in Labbe, chapter 13, or, if you prefer, the benefits granted to a certain Raymond of Toulouse, I think it will not be amiss, lest otherwise we be compelled more often than is fitting to interrupt the writer's narrative, to have set in this place some things which bear on the understanding of that chapter. Boschitum, which that Raymond is narrated to have possessed in the district of Toulouse, Carpentier in the new Supplement to Du Cange's Lexicon judges to have been a small wood; but the editors of volume X of the Writers of Gallic Affairs think it a place or stronghold called so by its proper name, which perhaps is not different from the place called le château du Bousquet. Clearer is the city from which Raymond set sail towards Jerusalem, Luna, praised more than once by Cellarius, book 2 of the Ancient Geography, chapter 9, page 417, which Baudrand describes thus: Luna is a city of Etruria on the border of Liguria according to Strabo, Pliny and Livy, one of the twelve first colonies of the Tuscans, now destroyed, and its ruins are called Luna distrutta, at the mouth of the river Magra; to which Sarzana, which may be called New Luna, at 3 thousand paces, succeeded in the episcopal see, distant 30 miles from Lucca, and 60 towards the West towards Genoa, with a port; hence the adjacent Lunensian tract.

[13] But what is that region of Turlanda which Bernard presently reviews, whence pirates, having come, make for the following miracle. reduced into captivity Raymond as he struggled with the waves about the parts of Africa? Again, who are those Barbarini who, having conquered those pirates, carried off Raymond … doubly captive, and who themselves also, overcome by the Saracens of Córdoba, lost their captive? Finally, who are the Alabitae who, having snatched Raymond from the Saracens of Córdoba, being conquered by Sanctio or Sancho, count of Castile, themselves also at last lost him? Bernard indeed confesses that these barbarous names of peoples were not so used by the ancients, but suggests nothing from elsewhere whence you might draw knowledge of those peoples. If in so obscure a matter there is room for conjectures, the region of Turlanda may not have been different from that of Tunis, long infamous for piracy, to which, from a place called Turzo in Ptolemy, the name of the region of Turzolanda and Turlanda may perhaps have remained for some while; while the Barbarini mentioned above may have been either peoples of the region called Barbary extended farther to the West, or perhaps Moors dwelling at Barbarium, which is a promontory of Lusitania commonly called El Cabo de Espichel, who were conquered in I know not what battle by the Saracens dominating Córdoba (for, as may be seen in Ferreras and other Spanish writers, there was not very good agreement among those barbarians except when the matter was against the Christians), in which they also lost their captive. However, I judge the Alabitae to be none other than the Saracens of Córdoba who followed the side of the tyrant Almahdi against Sulaiman, and who by Sancho, count of Castile, in the year of Christ 1008, as Ferreras relates at this year, not far from the city of Córdoba, thirty thousand of their men being lost, were shamefully put to flight and conquered.

[14] While Raymond, a noble man, having suffered shipwreck, However these things may be, for it does not seem so much worth the labour to inquire more laboriously into those peoples, have now the narrative of the scholastic of Angers. It seems opportune also, he says, to speak of a certain Raymond, native of the district of Toulouse, most illustrious by birth and riches, who possesses the stronghold which the peasants call Boschitum in the same district. He, having once undertaken the journey to Jerusalem, having now traversed the greatest part of Italy, at the city celebrated by the ancients under the name of Luna, a fleet having been prepared, entrusted himself to the Mediterranean sea, that by the sea course he might more quickly and more directly reach the parts of Jerusalem. But when, a very great part of the sea having been crossed, they were furrowing the blue, a tempest suddenly arising, that ship, dashed on the rocks, fell into shipwreck, and, scattered into parts, left the helmsman himself with the rest swallowed up by the whirlpools, scarcely two being preserved, namely Raymond and one servant whom he had brought with him as faithful: of whom that servant, clinging to a very small fragment of the vessel, was thrown onto the Italian shores, and, thinking that his master had without doubt been killed by the waves of the sea, sought again the host to whom his same master (as is the custom of pilgrims) had entrusted part of his money. This, having been received, to whom could he more worthily bring it than to his master's wife? To whom, setting out his adventures, he also makes known the fatal lot of his master.

[15] and was meanwhile held for dead by his wife accordingly. But she, feigning grief for some while, turned the matter not into grievous tears or long sighs (as is the custom of good women), but at once, become an elegant spectatress of men, casts her faithless and fickle love with unbridled liberty on various kinds of forms, and so, the one whom she found excellently above the rest, she obtains a husband, as far as she could, suitable to her lust; to whom she both gave the castle, and would so have done with the rest of the honour, and would also have alienated from their paternal benefice, ruined by blind desire, the daughters whom she had borne to Raymond, had not a certain man, Hugo by surname Excafridus, an old friend of the aforesaid Raymond, thrown himself on behalf of the girls against the injuries of their mother, and, lest they should be reduced to ignominy undowered, by his authority and industry recovered and retained half of the whole honour, besides the castle, increased by subsidies: nor was there long uncertainty about marrying the virgins, since he consented that both sisters should marry his own sons.

[16] But Raymond (to return to what went before) likewise embracing one of the scattered beams, [he struggles for three days with the waves and constantly invokes St. Faith; by pirates] was driven not to the parts of Italy but to those of Africa, incessantly invoking the help of St. Faith, and never casting her name from his mouth. And already the third day had flowed by since he had seen neither man nor monster, so astounded and stupefied by the ragings of the sea that, besides the natural intention of guarding life, implanted even in brute animals, he now knew nothing at all, when behold, unexpectedly, he met troops of pirates coming from the region of Turlanda, equipped manifoldly with a fleet of warlike seines *, with javelins, darts, shields and arms, and long thirsting for booty; that very day, lots having been cast, they had found that they would at once find booty. And so they surround with barbaric uproar the man found and captured, and ask his race and condition. But about his fortune no one was moved, since him plainly a shipwrecked man

they perceived him to be. But he, forgetful of himself (as I said) through the insolence of the waves, and seized in his limbs with stiffness entirely, scarcely remembered that he was a man, much less gave an answer to what was asked, especially since he had never learned either their language or their manners; but afterwards, their course completed, they returned to their country.

[17] And when they asked again, he, now a little refreshed with food and rest, answered that he was a Christian: [he is snatched from the sea, and afterwards, enrolled in the military order by various barbarians,] but, utterly denying the distinction of his birth and the profession of his office, he lied that he had been a farmer. Whence, a spade having been given into his hands, they set him to dig. And when he had performed this less fully because of the excessive tenderness of his gentleman's hands and his impatience of unknown labour, they began now to treat him impiously and to beat him inhumanly with scourges. So at last, unwilling and compelled, he discloses himself, and professed that he had formerly exercised nothing except the arts of warfare; an examination of which matter being at once made, they find him most skilled in arms, who, besides the other industry of this art, is related so ingeniously to gather himself under arms and protect himself with his shield that he could with difficulty be struck by anyone. Establishing him therefore now in the military order, they lead him rather often on expeditions; in which when he had in a short time obtained excellent glory of praise, they now promote him to a more advanced grade of honour. But meanwhile, a battle being fought between these and the Barbarini, the Barbarini, prevailing, the rest being killed and scattered, carry off Raymond doubly captive; then, having inquired into him, they too began to hold him honourably, and rather often to lead him into dangers; at last, conquered by the Saracens of Córdoba, they lost him again.

[18] But when these too had proved the most keen and vigorous soldier in various dangers, they congratulate themselves with enormous gladness and joy on so great a soldier: captured at last by Sancho, count of Castile, he returns free to his country. namely, to whom all things turned out according to their wish, and never in vain, with this companion; but the indiscreet elation of sudden joy is sometimes chastised by the interruption of sudden misfortune: for, a battle being joined between them and the Alabitae, the victors remained bereft of so great a soldier. At last these had war with Sanccio, count of Castile, a most powerful man and most skilled in warfare, by whom, being overcome with the help of Christ, they lost not only Raymond but also an enormous captivity of Christians: but these barbarous names of peoples seem not to have been so used by the ancients, whose industry perishing through the negligence of slothful * posterity, the names also of most peoples are held either utterly blotted out by oblivion or changed by the onset of barbarism. Count Sanccio therefore, when he had learned that this man was not only a Christian but also strong in nobility of birth, marvelling at his fortunes, rewarded him with gifts of every kind and also presented him with liberty together with the rest of the Christians: but before he departed from him, St. Faith appeared to him as he slept: I am, she said, St. Faith, whose name you, shipwrecked, invoked so constantly; go secure, because you will recover your lost honour. He rose therefore, and returned to his country, and now drawing near to his castle, having heard that his wife had married another husband, he feared to appear there openly, and on that account lay hidden for some while within the domestic hut of a poor man, waiting for what was to be of him by the providence of God, disfigured partly by the habit of a pilgrim, partly by age; for three lustra of years had gone by since he had been exiled from his country, on account of which also all hope that he would return any more had perished.

[19] where, recognized by a little woman, Yet, when one of the days a certain little woman, formerly his concubine, by chance was serving him in the pouring of a bath, she, recognizing him by the marks of his naked body, said: Are you that Raymond who some while ago, making for Jerusalem, was believed drowned in the sea? When he denied it, she added: This, she said, is true, nor will you be able to conceal your presence from me, with whom you were formerly accustomed. Finally, secretly, and as covertly as she could, she hastened to the lady of the castle, announcing the unwelcome rumour; so first through a vile harlot did his coming emerge. She, dismayed by the postliminy of her returning husband, began to hasten as quickly as possible by what way she might find for him * a hidden death and without infamy. But while the cause of death is put off in devising it, and no sufficiently effective opportunity for that crime is found, will, namely, and fortune disagreeing, he, warned in sleep, withdrew from the danger, and sought a safeguard of life. Which he himself would have done a little before, had not St. Faith ordered him expressly to come to his castle; but I believe it was so done by the divine will, that he might clearly detect the perfidy of his wife.

[20] at length he recovers his goods, by the manifold benefit of St. Faith. When therefore he learned that his daughters had married in a brilliant marriage, he sought the father of his sons-in-law, narrates his adventures, discloses the guilt of his wife. Further, Hugo Excafridus, with the help of the faithful and friends, restored to his honour the old friend of his sons and of their fathers-in-law (the rival being presently driven out). Besides, it was decreed that he should receive back his wife; for so it could be done according to the institutes of the elders; nor was there any disgrace at all: for he who had her, as soon as he had seen that a common judgement lay upon him, had yielded to what was just and right, ready to abandon another's right. Nevertheless the other, on account of the mark of her murderous will, rejected her from his mind; plainly one on whom a depraved conscience had inflicted a greater wound than the violation of bodily chastity. And that I may supply a few things in what went before, they add also that he took from the first pirates a potion of a potent herb, and so touched with magical incantations that those who once drink of it are so dulled by Lethean oblivion that they can remember neither race nor home any longer; then that by supernal mercy St. Faith appeared to him, and roused him from the stupor of that oblivion, and recalled him to his mind; and yet that after those things he had a slower memory, God disposing it namely, so that, the traces of the ancient chastisement still testifying, others may weigh from how great evils the Lord freed him.

[21] Thus far the already often praised Scholastic of Angers. However, since the eight chapters of miracles which follow in Labbe Why certain miracles of St. Faith from Labbe are not reprinted here. have partly been already edited before from our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden, and partly, in my judgement at least, by no means have Bernard, scholastic of Angers, as their author, as I gather from the various manners of speaking used there, I judged that they could be passed over in this Appendix, not against the will of very many. Let any reader who is eager for these also see them in the already often cited volume 2 of the New Library of Manuscripts from page 543, and consult what was said by me with which I put an end to the Commentary.

* or of pirate skiffs

* or "slothful"?

* that is, to him